The two interconnected administrative buildings of Centrotex in the Pankrác district were part of a series of headquarters for foreign trade companies built in Prague from the early 1970s. Their construction resulted in the demolition of 18 veranda houses from the late 19th century. The smaller building is essentially a copy of the larger 74-meter one, to which it is connected by a bridge. Thanks to the concrete rooftop extensions for air conditioning and elevator machine rooms resembling cow horns, the complex earned the nickname “The Cow and the Calf”. The architects Václav Hilský and Otakar Jurenka also had to address the urban design of the entire neighbourhood and the Pražského povstání metro station, which the building towers over. Václav Hilský — Otakar Jurenka Centrotex PZO Office Compound, Prague-Nusle, 1970-1978 Děkanská vinice I / náměstí Hrdinů / Lomnického č.p. 1634/17 Václav Hilský’s last major architectural contract, realised with Otakar Jurenka and a team from the Prague Regional Design Institute (KPÚ), consisted of two buildings designed for institutions closely linked to the centrally planned economy of state socialism. Within the domestic system of monopolistic foreign trade enterprises, PZO Centrotex focused on textile exports, while the Research Institute for Planning and Management of the National Economy was tasked with providing expertise to the political authorities based on modelling and forecasting economic development. The construction of the compound at Prague’s náměstí Hrdinů (Heroes’ Square) (1970-1978) reflected the contradictions of Czechoslovakia’s sclerotic economy at the time. While complaints about the incompetence of domestic construction firms filled the pages of professional journals, and Hilský himself unsuccessfully called for “progressively conceived standardisation”, the representative headquarters of Centrotex were built by the Zagreb-based firm INRGA, which simply “built what we had drawn”. While a large part of the ground floor of the Centrotex building was occupied by room-sized computers, the open-space offices – which were slowly becoming standard in Western Europe – were very limited in Prague. Both buildings, perhaps too robust from close up, created a successful precursor to other skyscrapers in Pankrác when viewed from a distance. They still attract attention today with their massive blocks of roof machinery, cantilevered extensions of the first and second floors and aluminium cladding with distinctive sunshades. If we search for possible analogies for Centrotex abroad, we might think of some buildings by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange, with whom Hilský became personally acquainted in the late 1960s. We might also consider some Central European or Soviet buildings, such as the New Ljubljana Bank by Edvard Ravnikar in the capital of Slovenia. Václav Hilský (1909-2001) Václav Hilský graduated with a degree in architecture from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1935). He was a member of the Left Front and the Union of Socialist Architects (from 1933) and secretary of the Progressive Architectural Societies Bloc (1945-1947). He co-founded the Prague Stavoprojekt and organised the branch of Stavoprojekt in Ústí nad Labem (1948). He was the long-time head of studio at the Prague Regional Design Institute, with which he participated in a number of architectural competitions. He won a gold medal for his design of a collective house in Litvínov at the Milan Triennale (1947, together with Evžen Linhart). Hilský received the titles of Meritorious Artist (1968), the Klement Gottwald State Award (1971) and the title of National Artist (1981). Excerpted from the book Architecture 58–89 Publication concept, editor, author of discussions: Vladimir 518 Centrotex | Foto: Prague City Tourism