The Open House festival will make a hundred buildings in Prague accessible to the public

Update: 15.05.2023 00:30

Prague – The ninth edition of the Open House Prague festival is starting, which will open more than a hundred normally inaccessible buildings and spaces in the capital city to the public for free. From today, an accompanying program is prepared, such as guided tours, lectures and discussions. From Saturday to Sunday, Kramář’s villa, the New Stage of the National Theater and the premises of the main railway station will be made available, among others. The motto of the festival is Architecture for all, tours are intended for the general public, including people with visual or hearing disabilities. The organizers will also remember the architects Karel Prager, Věra Machoninová or Antonín Viktor Barvitio.

According to the director of the festival, Klára Veselá, people can visit 109 normally inaccessible buildings and areas. “They are places that we regularly pass without having the chance to find out what is hidden behind their facades and fences,” said Veselá. She said that in addition to the gems of Prague architecture and design, those interested in the guided tours will also learn stories related to the construction of historic buildings, reconstructions and modern projects.

Areas such as the government lounge at the main station, the Masaryk lounge at Masaryk station, which is the original imperial waiting room, the Nusel town hall, the Metro palace or the Adria palace will be open. People can find a list of open buildings and spaces at websites

The organizers will commemorate the architect Karel Prager, one of the most important Czech architects of the second half of the 20th century, whose birth will be 100 years this summer. His realizations from different periods are represented in the program. Visitors will thus be able to see for the first time the former branch of Komerční banka in Smíchov, the university campus from the 1990s in Jinonice or the backstage of the New Stage of the National Theatre, which is celebrating 40 years since its opening this year.

Then Věra Machoninová and her work, which is represented, for example, by the DBK shopping center (formerly the House of Residential Culture), which is considered one of the top works of post-war architecture in the Czech Republic. The third architect to whom this year’s program is dedicated is Antonín Viktor Barvitius, who was born 200 years ago. On this occasion, Gröbe’s villa in Havlíčkové sady, Lanna’s villa in Bubench and the church of St. Václav na Smíchov.

Open House Prague is part of the international network of Open House Worldwide festivals, which take place in more than 50 cities.