The Prague Post Online: News: Plzeňers find modernism troubling

November 20th, 2008

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Plzeňers find modernism troubling

City faces challenges in selling the public on fresh architecture ideas

By Loni Cooper
For The Prague Post
March 14th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO

Reclaiming and revitalizing the main square of the storied west Bohemian city has proven more of a cultural battleground than architects and city planners expected.

Jan Kaplický’s vision for a new national library is set to mark the Czech Republic as a country embracing innovation. But the controversy raging in the west Bohemian city of Plzeň over another modern structure tells a very different story about some Czechs’ attitudes toward contemporary architecture.

On Thursday, the city council voted to install a series of minimalist water features at náměstí Republiky, the cultural and geographical heart of Plzeň. The decision ended a four-year dispute between town planners and councilors.

But the reactions of residents, who have widely condemned the design, still weigh heavily on the minds of the architect and development officials attempting to bring this 700-year-old city into the 21st century.

The controversy started four years ago, when planning officials proposed a revitalization of the square, which had long stood virtually empty.

In 2003, they opened a competition for architects to design a series of fountains to replace ones removed over a century ago. The judging panel included two architects, one fine artist and a Czech heritage expert.

The idea of holding the competition appealed to councilors and residents alike. But that changed when the winning design, by Prague architect Ondřej Císler, was announced in February 2005. “The concept was grand-scale, based on filling the gaps in the square in a sensitive way,” Císler says.

But the three “monumental gilded bronze statues,” essentially an abstract interpretation of the Plzeň coat of arms, were instantly panned by the public. Councilors were not in favor either, voting against the design in May 2005.

The plan was put on the backburner until April 2006, when the council gave the architect a chance to rework his design. Císler made minor changes to the materials and proportions.

“They’re now 40 centimeters [16 inches] smaller, and the surface is now a mix of gold, copper and brass squares,” Plzeň planning director Milan Svoboda explains.

The new design was presented to the council in February, and, last week, after four long years, the council passed the plans by one vote. The 17 million Kč ($790,000) project, set to change the face of the city, will get under way later this year.

A modern city?

In 1882, Plzeň was proud to be modern. So proud, in fact, that the council had the fountains on náměstí Republiky removed to show that residents no longer relied on a public water source.

Today, things are happening in reverse — officials believe the new fountains will demonstrate that, over 120 years later, Plzeň is still a modern city. But, this time, it seems its citizens aren’t so keen on the idea.

From the moment Císler’s design was announced, the strongest voice of dissent has come from the public. Unofficial polls taken at an exhibition of the original design showed only 17 percent of 2,400 votes cast were in favor. And, just last week, an SMS survey published in the Plzeňský deník newspaper showed that 63 percent of respondents were still opposed to the plan.

Officials are skeptical about the extent of public disapproval. Svoboda believes the exhibition survey was inaccurate. “People could have voted twice. But certainly there were members of the public speaking out against the design,” he says.

Alena Jochecová, who owns a small business just off náměstí Republiky, is one such resident. “I must say that I don’t like them very much — they’re too big.” For her, it’s a matter of taste. “I do think we should have something on the square, and probably something modern. I’m just not sure about this.”

But other residents are opposed to installing modern pieces on a square dominated by historical architecture. Milan Malý, an engineer, thinks the design is too “modern.” “They should use something more old-fashioned,” he says. “I think most people here don’t like it — it doesn’t match anything on the square.”

According to Císler, this mindset, ironically, threatens the significance of the existing architecture the public is so eager to protect. “Creating new ‘historical’ monuments would only devalue the existing real ones. I mean, Las Vegas can build five Baroque churches and eight Gothic cathedrals, but it won’t become Prague, it’ll remain Las Vegas.”

“Czech architecture was isolated from the progress of the world scene for a long time, so many Czechs are not open-minded in this arena,” Císler says. “They buy nice suits, nice cars, but they have yet to learn to buy nice houses.”

With the first of the three fountains set to be installed by the end of the year, the residents of Plzeň may just have to accept that their surroundings are changing with the times.

“People will just get used to them eventually,” Jochecová says.

And, while that may not be the reaction Císler was hoping for, he remains optimistic that attitudes will change. “We must remember that so many love stories start with a quarrel.”

— Marie Tesková contributed to this report.

Loni Cooper can be reached at news@praguepost.com

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