Zprávy památkové péče 2018, 78(6):578-589 | DOI: 10.56112/zpp.2018.6.04

Architect Vratislav Růžička and his (not only) Prague realizations

Anna Schránilová, Matyáš Kracík

NPÚ, ÚOP v Praze

The article deals with the career of architect Vratislav Růžička (1929-1990), which was significantly associated with two institutions: the Regional Project Institute in Prague (KPÚ Praha) where he worked for many years and was director in the second half of the 1960's and in the first half of the 1970's, and the Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated with Professor Jaroslav Fragner and where especially at the end of his life he worked as a teacher.
Numerous proposals and realizations were created both within the KPÚ (intra-institutional competition with Vlastibor Klimeš, Vratislav Růžička, Milan Vašek), later in cooperation with Boris Rákosník and Iva Knappová, while in participation in public competitions through the architectural service of ČFVU (Czech Fine Arts Fund) the team was complemented by architect Eva Růžičková. On several proposals, Eva and Vratislav Růžička worked together.
The realizational works of Vratislav Růžička can be found throughout the entire former Czechoslovakia. In Slovakia, this is primarily in the town of Žiar nad Hronom, where Růžička was the main architect in 1959-1979 and where he designed a number of residential and civil buildings, topped by the monumental cultural house (with Eva Růžičková). In the Czech lands, Vratislav Růžička focused mainly on Central Bohemia (realization within the KPÚ, cultural buildings in e.g. Beroun, Pečky, and Hořovice, apartment buildings in Brandýs nad Labem, Sedlčany, Šestajovice etc.), Prague (e.g. family houses and boathouses in Zbraslav, terraced houses in Střešovice, cultural center of the USSR in Bubenec, headquarters of the foreign trade company Merkuria in Holešovice, department store Družba in Nové Město, Urology Clinic in Nové Město, the Urban Transport Central Dispatching building in Nové Město), and Vítkovice in the Krkonoše Mountains (modifications of his own cottage, two family houses, cultural house, hotel Průmstav, etc.).
Another area of Vratislav Růžička's work is collaboration with artists on designs of works of art in public spaces (e.g. Jan Šverma monument in Prague's Revoluční Street at today's Štefánikov, formerly Šverma Bridge in cooperation with sculptor Antonín Nykl, the monument of Marshal I.S. Koněv on the Yugoslavian Partisan Street in Prague Dejvice with statue author Zdeněk Krybus, architectural design for the plastic of Josef Malejovský "Renaissance" situated on the piazzetta near the historical National Theater building, the bronze Monument of Peace in Vitějovice near Prachatice with Jan Hana, Bohumil Franc, and Iva Knappová) and theoretical work (especially articles published in the journal The Architecture of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, theoretical works elaborated within the KPÚ).
The Družba department store (now Debenhams) was built in 1971-1976 based on the project of KPÚ Prague architects Vlastibor Klimeš, Milan Vašek, and Vratislav Růžička as a commercial administrative building of the Czech Union of Production Cooperatives. The corner building with its upper part made from a steel skeleton on Wenceslas Square in Nové Město with its predominantly glazed copper facade has a cylindrical superstructure (polygonal ground plan). Originally the restaurant Rostov was here, above which was a café with a view. The original interiors have survived only as fragments, just like most of the works of art. The vanished ones include, for example, a fountain and jardiniere by Luboš Těhník, a glass target by Karl Wünsch, and a wooden grid from I. Bočková. The spiral staircase from the restaurant to the roof café was supplemented with a light plastic sculpture made of metal and glass by Pavel Hlava and Pavel Gruse, while the restaurant was decorated by a glass structure by Stanislav Libenský. Among the preserved works are e.g. the large-format picture "Gypsy Wedding" by Bohumila Doleželová, metal sculpture of a dancer by Rudolf Svoboda, a tapestry with the symbol of the production cooperatives "vd" by Sylva Řepková, and a series of art-protis by Jiřina Hartingerová. The building of the Družba department store is tastefully integrated into the historical environment of the Prague Heritage Reserve by respecting the height level of the building and the articulation of the facades affected by the conditions stipulated by the Chief Architect's Office.
The Urology Clinic in Ke Karlovu Street in Nové Město was created in 1973-1976 based on a study by Eva and Vratislav Růžička. The project was then worked on by Růžička with Boris Rákosník. The mass of the building and the architectural design were shaped with respect to the Prague Heritage Reserve. The lining on the fa_ade responds to the gray bricks of the neo-Gothic birthing clinic. The mass of the clinic, a reinforced concrete monolithic structure, is formed by a distinctive upper floor base from which a richly articulated block protrudes. The irregularly spaced concrete surfaces and combinations of materials create a dramatic composition. The facades of the clinic have been preserved intact in their original condition, including the windows. The public interiors of the building have also been preserved in their original condition. The grand jewel of the building, however, is at the entrance; this is a large-scale glass sculpture with a family theme by Stanislav Libenský. The Urology Clinic is one of the few Prague buildings built in the typical style of Czech Brutalism in the 1970's. It is for this reason that it should receive more attention in literature than it has.
The Urban Transport Central Dispatching building in Nové Město from 1972-1978 on Na Bojišti street (study and project by Vratislav Růžička, Eva Růžičková, Boris Rákosník, M. Špaček) consists of a dispatching office, an administrative building, and underground garages. The supporting structure of the ten-story surface part consists of a steel skeleton, while the basement is held by monolithic reinforced concrete. While the main and the highest part retreats behind the street, it is considerably higher than the surrounding area, revealing distant views. Regarding the architectural design of the facades, the construction can be evaluated positively. The facade from brutalist black Royal sheet metal elements is exceptional. The typical five-tract office floor plan intersects the central staircase across all floors. The interiors have been modernized; the only interesting element of the interior is Stanislav Libenský's glass artwork located in a publicly accessible part of the ground floor. The construction of the Urban Transport Central Dispatching building represents a brutal encroachment into the urban heritage reserve and the Prague skyline.
The realizations, in which Vratislav Růžička participated or designed independently, show an original style that results from a professional approach. The originality of the artistic intent is reflected in the constructional design and arrangement of materials or in the exterior materials. From the more detailed Prague realizations presented here, we consider the most valuable to be the Urology Clinic for its architectural quality, the purity of its brutalist expression, its placement of the Prague Heritage Reserve, and its preserved condition. It would be desirable to declare it an immovable cultural heritage property. In the case of the Urban Transport Central Dispatching building and the Družba department store, sufficient general protection exists as part of the Prague Heritage Reserve, while the height of the first structure significantly disturbs the panorama.

Keywords: Vratislav Růžička, late 20th century architecture, Družba Department Store, Merkuria foreign trade company

Published: December 1, 2018  Show citation