Fórum architektury & stavitelství

Fórum architektury - 4/2001 summary

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	The Traces of Industrial Architecture This thematic issue of Forum magazine is devoted to the first biennale on the subject of technical monuments and the conversion of industrial architecture, an event that provided a contemporary overview of developments to date and current trends in the conservation and, in particular, new uses and conversions of industrial buildings and technical monuments in this country and around the world. The meeting offered information on research and mapping technical monuments and industrial buildings in the Czech Republic, and presented the results of grants from the Ministry of Culture, professional institutions and private initiatives. In the limited amount of time available at least an indication of an answer to questions were sought to explain the motivation behind the interest in industrial heritage, but also to determine how to overcome the technical, financial, organizational and social barriers and limits that complicate new uses, and threaten the existence of remarkable works of construction. In the former sewage treatment plant in Prague-Bubeneč (which itself represents a unique example of the new use of an industrial building) talk revolved around what are still rather isolated experiences, documented through projects and more or less convincing or polemic completed works of construction. They were presented by the authors of the projects, and by the investors and workers from the National Trust, and you will find these works, complemented with examples from abroad, in the pages of this month’s Forum magazine. The meeting took place at the initiative of the Technical Monuments Board and the Department for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage at the National Technical Museum. It was a continuation of a conference organized by the National Trust in the year 2000 in Ostrava where the idea emerged to alternate in biannual intervals a specialized, heritage conference opened to a broader spectrum of professionals. The first biennale, held in the former sewage treatment plant, and accompanied by an exhibition, a number of publications, film presentations and excursions, made an effort to integrate the views of various professional fields with a shared interest in technical monuments and the use of valuable buildings of industrial architecture, as well as those of investment representatives, representatives of towns and districts, architects, heritage workers, civil engineers and technicians, sociologists, as well as enthusiasts from the general public. The responses, the information that was gathered, the questions that were evoked, and suggested developments, all provide strong arguments for continuing in the year 2003. Benjamin Fragner An overview of contemporary examples of new uses for old industrial buildings: Norman Foster and Partners, Coop Himmelb(l)au, Herzog&De Meuron, WilkinsonEyre.Architects, Buschow Henley Architects, Manfred Wehdorn
topics
	The Balance of Change in Industrial Buildings The onset of the modern information age puts a close to the era of traditional industry, and with this, its features now enter into the realm of history. In the midst of our uncertainty and unease about things to come, we are forced to re-evaluate our views, and to take a more thoughtful approach to the natural and man-made sources and sites that surround us. It is necessary to cultivate a more sensitive relationship to place, space, and to the age we live in, while respecting the value of culture, progress and tradition – of which industrial architecture forms an undeniable part. The frequent return to roots and beginnings, and the tendency towards conservation are testimony to this. Industrial buildings provide a valuable statement on the technical, economic and architectural conditions of the time by bearing cultural witness to the technological developments and creative daring of those who built them, and testifying to the way of life of those who used them. They reveal to us the often remarkable, conceptual prowess – even in modern terms – of their builders, who today remain largely unknown. The conversion of these buildings for adaptation to new uses is a difficult task, but it represents the most optimistic form of renewal if we are interested in preserving them for their original value. The demands of this process however may awaken conflicting aims, which make it difficult to achieve the desired end. The initiation of these activities lies with the Department for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage at the National Technical Museum in Prague, a group that is member of the large group of national departments in the international organization TICCIH, based in Ironbridge. Members of the Department include workers at faculties of architecture, heritage trusts, and technical museums in Prague, Brno and Ostrava, and other professionals involved in producing work, preparing students, and providing information through seminars, exhibitions, and the media, in order to gain support for conservation and the new application of industrial heritage sites. If it has indeed been possible to trace a positive shift in the Czech approach to industrial architecture it is perhaps owing to these very efforts. Emil Hlaváček
projects
	Industrial Museum in the Michal Mine, Ostrava Conversion of the historical buildings of the Škoda automobile plant in Mladá Boleslav Modern art in the former Sova Mill in Prague Transformation of factory buildings in the Prague industrial neighbourhood of Karlín Former brewery and steam-mill site are the target of new investment interests in Holešovice, Prague Look-out tower at Petřín in Prague – reconstruction of a symbol of the industrial age Prague is to have a new railway museum Project for the industrial site in Vítkovice, Ostrava
review
	Discussion, polemics and information from the First Biannual Meeting “Technical Monuments and the Conversion of Industrial Architecture“ which was held June 14-16 in the former sewage treatment plant in Prague.