The Prague Congress Centre was a gigantic project of the 1980s, with a budget so astronomical that it could have easily funded housing for 10,000 people. It was officially opened on 2 April 1981, under the name “Palace of Culture”. Despite being criticised by many for its appearance, the building continues to attract prominent figures from around the world. Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed a commercial in one of its lounges, and Václav Havel met there with former U.S. President Obama. Visitors can admire the grandiose interiors and luxurious lounges of this Neo-functional building, which houses numerous high-quality works of art. Jaroslav Mayer — Vladimír Ustohal — Antonín Vaněk — Josef Karlík Prague Congress Centre, 1976–1981 5. května 65, Praha 4 — Nusle In 1972, the Czechoslovak government decided to build a multi-purpose Congress Hall at the Pankrác bridgehead near the Nusle Bridge. The location was ideal due to its excellent transport accessibility and the prominent position offering views of Prague’s historical skyline. That same year, the General Director of Prague City Construction announced an architectural and urban planning competition, inviting the VPÚ (Urban Planning Institute), the Prague City Design Institute for Construction (PÚ VHMP), Stavoprojekt Brno and Stavoprojekt Bratislava to submit tenders. The competition sought a comprehensive concept for the Pankrác bridgehead, including the placement of a Congress Palace, a Public Security municipal administration building and an international hotel. However, the jury did not award first place to any of the proposals. Second place went to the projects by the PÚ VHMP and VPÚ teams, who advanced to a second round in 1973. The competition rules stated that the building had to reflect the architectural, artistic and technical standards of the socialist era and serve as a dignified counterpart to Prague’s historical landmarks. Again, no winning design was selected, so in 1974, a third round was announced, with winning design by the VPÚ team, composed of Jaroslav Mayer, Vladimír Ustohal, Antonín Vaněk, and Josef Karlík. According to Jan Bočan, his team from PÚ VHMP including Jan Šrámek and Zdeněk Rothbauer, did not win the contract for political reasons. The building has three underground floors of reinforced concrete and seven above-ground levels using a steel construction system with a 9×9 meter module. Much of the façade is made of bronze-tinted float glass (Spectrofloat), up to 8 meters long, set in steel-aluminium frames that are also bronzed and anodised. The northern part of the building contains the main foyer and restaurant facilities, offering views of Prague’s skyline. Auxiliary spaces such as dressing rooms for performers, rehearsal spaces and stage equipment storage are located in the southern part, while the administrative areas are situated along the western façade. The underground floors house garages for 800 cars and 40 buses, an employee dining hall, kitchens, technical facilities, storage and supply areas. The main ceremonial entrance is on the southern façade, while visitor entrances are accessed from the northern terrace. The lead architects designed the general spatial arrangement, with specific spaces detailed by other members of the broader VPÚ team. Thanks to the extensive use of artworks, the representative spaces became a gallery of contemporary official art. A spiral staircase connects the floors of the ceremonial section, with an upper semicircular lighting fixture and an impressive metal sculpture of the Sun by Vladimír Procházka in landing. The main terrace foyer (by Jaroslav Trávníček) features the Tree of Life, a glass sculpture by Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová, considered one of the most powerful artistic works in architecture of its time. The highlights of the interior design in the Palace of Culture include two specially designed lounges (by Jaroslav Trávníček), featuring bespoke furniture, wall cladding and artistically designed ceilings with intricately crafted light fixtures. For the larger lounge (called the Chairman’s Lounge), František Vízner created a lighting fixture incorporated into a ribbed, dynamically shaped ceiling, while Josef Müller designed the textile wall coverings. The smaller lounge, originally called the Presidential Lounge, is notable for its half-circular lighting fixture made of hundreds of “test tubes,” also designed by Vladimír Procházka. Excerpted from the book Architecture 58–89 Publication concept, editor, author of discussions: Vladimir 518