The publication presents the results of a competition of student work focused on architectural projects for adapting the brewery in Buštěhrad for new use. The contest was organised in Prague by the Institute of the Theory and History of Architecture, the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage, and the Heritage Conservation Institute (all at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University).

The book presents the 63 projects that entered the competition. It recounts the history of the brewery, presents the criteria and methodology used to evaluate the projects, and contains writings by teachers and members of the competition jury. The book was published with the support of a grant from the SGS (the Student Grant Fund) of the Czech Technical University (Grant No. SGS 010-802 140) and it was prepared as part of work on the project ‘Industrial Topography – the Adaptive Re-use of Industrial Heritage’ supported by the NAKI programme (National and Cultural Identity) of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

Benjamin Fragner – Petr Vorlík – Jan Zikmund (edd.), The Pitfalls of Re-use / The Brewery in Buštěhrad, Prague 2011.

110 pages; Czech, English summary; ISBN 978-80-01-04923-5; contributing editorial work Peter Daniel, Matúš Dulla, Irena Fialová, Václav Girsa, Jana Gregorová, Silvie Kránerová, Tomáš Šenberger / graphic design Petr Sládek / print Signpek s. r. o. / published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage FA CTU Prague

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The present era is in many respects a critical one, as views on the value of industrial objects and public opinion about the conservation of such objects are changing. What have we ourselves already destroyed? What will yet be destroyed by others? The hope of conservation lies in adaptive re-use. But re-use as what? As a museum, housing, or office space, or with a new production function? The contributors to this publication ask these and other questions and attempt to offer some answers and possible solutions.

The publication was prepared by Benjamin Fragner and Vladislava Valchářová in cooperation with Lukáš Beran, Jan Zikmund, and Monika Klimentová, and was published in conjunction with the Technical Monuments Committee of the Czech Chamber of Certified Engineers and Technicians and the Czech Union of Civil Engineers, the International Visegrád Fund, and the British Council.

Authors: Kateřina Bečková, Michal Bednář, Lukáš Beran, Zdeněk Dražil, Bill Ferris, Benjamin Fragner, Blažena Gehinová, Hana Geiplová, Piotr Gerber, Pavel Hamza, Sebastian Hettchen, Csaba Holló, Martin Holota, Jan Hozák, Václav Jandáček, Daniela Javorčeková, Martin J. Kadrman, Stanisław Karczmarczyk, Petr Klápště, Eva Klápšťová, Monika Klimentová, Dagmar Knotková, Kateřina Kreislová, Václav Kruliš, Alena Kubová, Diarmaid Lawlor, Petra Mašitová, Miloš Matěj, Steve Miller, Zygmunt Rawicki, Ivan Rynda, Lars Scharnholz, Milan Starec, Martin Stockley, Jiří Suchomel, Jan Šatava, Dagmar Škodová-Parmová, Dagmar Šubrtová, Norbert Tempel, Pavla Trantinová, Slávka Vieweghová, Martin Vonka and Petr Vorlík.

Benjamin Fragner – Vladislava Valchářová (edd.), Industrial Heritage in the Void between Professionals and Amateurs, Prague 2010.

220 pages; Czech/English; 129 images; ISBN 978-80-01-04521-3 / contributing editorial work Lukáš Beran, Jan Zikmund, Monika Klimentová / translation Robin Cassling, Vojtěch Nosek, Soňa Poláčková, Vladislava Valchářová, Lukáš Beran / scientific review Ivan Jakubec / graphic design Jan Forejt / published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage and Faculty of Architecture CTU Prague in conjunction with the Technical Monuments Committee of the Czech Chamber of Certified Engineers and Technicians and the Czech Union of Civil Engineers, the International Visegrád Fund, and the British Council

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The Ještěd TV tower and mountain hotel is a work unique in silhouette and singular in detail, a monument of the first order, and a symbol of the town and region of which it is a part. However, a number of questions arise when it comes to conserving the qualities of architecture from the second half of the 20th century. For this reason, a group of architects, conservationists, historians and architectural theorists assembled at Ještěd, and the outcome of that meeting is this publication. The authors are Ondřej Beneš, Lukáš Beran, Matúš Dulla, Benjamin Fragner, Ondřej Fischer, Jiří Křížek, Miroslav Masák, Jana Pauly, Miloš Solař, Oldřich Ševčík, Pavel Škranc, Rostislav Švácha and Petr Vorlík.

Works of architecture from the 1960s have in recent years been evoking ever greater interest among the public. The first books devoted to charting and interpreting this period have been published, important artists have been identified, and exhibitions have been organised. Equally, however, other structures have been inappropriately converted and the detailed designs of their interiors and characteristic claddings have been destroyed or without forethought entire structures have vanished—and even the still living authors of these works have been able to prevent this. The number of decisions to grant protected status to buildings from this period in the Czech Republic can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand. As a national cultural monument the Ještěd TV tower and mountain hotel is all the more striking an exception. Perhaps that is why the interpretations of the significance and scope of the legal protection it enjoys vary surprisingly.

Ještěd was declared a cultural monument back in 1998 and at the start of 2006 he was given the status of National Cultural Monument, which requires its nomination for entry on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In 2007 Ing. arch. Věra Kučová invited the VCPD to prepare the information for the building’s nomination (for the Central Office of the National Heritage Institute), and these materials were prepared by Mgr. Lukáš Beran. The condition of the mountain hotel’s and restaurant’s original interiors stood out as of key significance for the site’s future use. Consequently, in 2008 the National Heritage Institute commissioned Ing. arch. Petr Vorlík, Ph.D. to prepare within the VCPD and in cooperation with external experts thorough technical and structural documentation for all the interior elements based on a structural-historical study of the site, analyse the nature of the elements and their level of authenticity, and draw up the first proposal for their reconstruction to serve as the basis for the expert discussion.

The VCPD convened the working meeting at Ještěd Hotel on 11 March 2009. The day before, conservationists, architects, historians and architectural theorists toured another work of architecture in Liberec by the architects Karel Hubáček, Ještěd Shopping Centre, and for many of them this was the last time as just fourteen days later demolition of the site began. The discussion thus extended to take in the entire issue of the conservation of post-war architecture. A publication was prepared on the basis of the talks given during the meeting titled Ještěd / Documenting the Qualities of Post-war Architecture.

The processes of obtaining heritage protection for the site and nominating it for inclusion on UNESCO’s World Heritage Site is described in the publication by Mgr. Jiří Křížek. Ing. arch. Petr Vorlík Ph.D. provides information about the results of the above-mentioned documentation of the site’s interiors. An opinion on its reconstruction is presented by Johanna Pauly PhDr. Pavel Škranc describes and interprets the art works that form an indelible part of the structure. Ing. Ondřeje Fischera DrSc. describes some other less known structural designs for the tower. A theoretical interpretation of the Ještěd structure is put forth by doc. PhDr. Oldřich Ševčík Csc. and Ing. arch. Ondřej Beneš, and prof. Ing. arch. Matúš Dulla DrSc. proposes a parallel with the New Bridge in Bratislava. The architect prof. Ing. arch. Miroslav Masák dr. h. c. and the historian prof. PhDr. Rostislav Švácha CSc. both describe their experiences with working to get structures listed as cultural monuments. In conclusion, the specific problems that the reconstruction of Ještěd must confront are summed up by Ing. arch. Miloš Solař. These contributions are accompanied by the minutes from the final discussion, moderated by prof. Ing. arch Petr Urlich, in which prof. Ing. arch. Jiří Suchomel, PhDr. Josef Štulc, prof. Ing. arch. Tomáš Šenberger, Mgr. Martin Strakoš and Mgr. Jakub Potůček also took part. Following the meeting at Ještěd a questionnaire was distributed to all the participants and guests to get their opinions on how specific elements of the structure should be handled in the future and the publication also includes their assessments.

Petr Vorlík – Benjamin Fragner – Lukáš Beran (edd.), Ještěd / Documenting the Qualities of Post-War Architecture, Prague 2010.

96 pages, Czech, English/German introduction and summary, 24 images, ISBN 978-80-01-04475-9 / contributing editorial work Vladislava Valchářová, Jan Zikmund / translation Robin Cassling / scientific review Věra Kučová, Petr Kratochvíl / graphic design Jan Forejt / typesetting and print Studio Element / published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage and the Faculty of Architecture CTU Prague in cooperation with the National Heritage Institute

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This publication looks back at the industrial heritage buildings and sites in the Czech Republic that were irreversibly destroyed in the years between 1999 and 2009 and buildings that are currently at immediate risk. It was published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage in cooperation and with the financial support of  the Monuments Committee of the Czech Chamber of Certified Engineers and Technicians and the Czech Union of Civil Engineers.

The book is based on information in the VCPD’s Industrial Heritage Register, on documentation available from archives, literature searches in the contemporary and modern press, consultations with metropolitan and local authorities, contacts with demolition companies, and important assistance in its preparation was provided by local heritage offices and museum staff, experts on the past of different sectors, with significant input also provided by industrial history enthusiasts. The authors concentrated on information on those sectors in which structures have in recent years been vanishing at an alarming pace, without any basic documentation of them having been made.

Benjamin Fragner – Jan Zikmund (edd.), What We Destroyed (Ourselves). Taking Stock of the Vanishing Industrial Age / Ten Years, Prague 2009.

144 pages; Czech, English introduction; 274 images; ISBN 978-80-01-04387-5 / contributing editorial work Vladislava Valchářová, Lukáš Beran, Pavel Jákl, Daniel Froněk / translation Robin Cassling / proofreading Olga Groszová, Marie Forejtová / graphic design Jan Forejt / typesetting and print Studio Element / published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage CTU Prague in conjunction with the Technical Monuments Committee of the Czech Chamber of Certified Engineers and Technicians and the Czech Union of Civil Engineers

The publication was launched at the International Biennial Vestiges of Industry 2009 and with it an exhibition of the same name opened in the previously inaccessible spaces of the Old Sewage Treatment Plant in Prague-Bubeneč which ran from 19 September to 18 October 2009. The exhibition was prepared by Benjamin Fragner, Jan Zikmund, Gabriel Fragner, Martin Holota and Lenka Dolanová.

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This publication contains the proceedings from an interdisciplinary meeting held to discuss the role and significance of industrial heritage in the Ústí nad Labem Region. It touches on the history of the region and the current issue of brownfields. The publication contains conference papers and descriptions of buildings that were viewed on an excursion organised as part of the meeting.

Lukáš Beran – Vladislava Valchářová (edd.), Industrial Heritage of the Ústí nad Labem Region – Mapping and Revitalisation, Prague 2008.

112 pages; Czech, English/German introduction; ISBN 978-80-01-04114-7 / contributing editorial work Benjamin Fragner, Tomáš Šenberger, Petr Urlich, Petr Vorlík, Jan Zikmund / authors Jan Jehlík, Martin Pondělík – Petr Fiala, Ivan Vaníček – Daniel Jirásko – Martin Havlice, Libuše Pokorná, Lenka Burgerová, Martin Krsek, Ladislav Stančík, Günter Bayerl / translation Robin Cassling, Susanne Spurná / graphic design Jan Forejt / typesetting and print Studio Element / published by the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage CTU Prague

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