archint 1989_cz:de: Brutal Treatment of Brutalism

Recorded 5.9.2019 at Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin


Two new publications on brutalist architecture in Prague will be
presented. First, a richly visual piece with many photographs
titled "Prague Brutally Beautiful: Exceptional Buildings
Constructed in Prague Between 1969 and 1989”. The second piece
takes a more academic approach "Beton, Břasy, Boletice. Brutalist
Prague”. The impulse for both projects came from the recent
demolition of buildings that were only appreciated by a minority,
and were yet to be taken seriously by experts. Now is this the
last cry of desperation, or the beginning of a wider public and
official appreciation? How will brutalist buildings be dealt with
in Berlin?


Featuring: Evžen Šimera (Prague Brutally Beautiful, Scholastica,
Prague), Klára Brůhová (Beton, Břasy, Boletice, Czech Technical
University in Prague) and Gunnar Klack (Citizens' Initiative
Mäusebunker, Berlin)


archint_1989_cz:de is an event series focusing on the
architecture and monuments from the post-war period and how they
have been dealt with since the Velvet Revolution and the fall of
the Berlin Wall in 1989. Why does our freedom often manifest as
the freedom to destroy or simply just to forget? Can these
actions be seen themselves as not only interventions but as
actual monuments to the regained freedom, reunification and
post-1989 transformation? Should these works of art and
architecture be disconnected from their political connotations
and instead be respected for their artistic value? Is it a
question of East – West division? Here, Czech and German
architectural theoreticians will present their new projects and
discuss them.


Partners of the event series: Embassy of the Czech Republic in
Berlin, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, Polish Institute Berlin,
Slovak Institute in Berlin, EUNIC Berlin.


Photo by Filip Šlapal: The New Stage of the National Theatre in
Prague (1977–1983, architect Karel Prager)


Graphic design: Iveta Krajcirova, Deconstructed