GATE

summer 2019

Dejvice Gate. A task almost 100 years old and still unfinished. Our task was to create this gate. I immediately focused on the urban design of Dejvice by Professor Engel. The seamless connection of the newly emerging Dejvice to Bubeneč was and still is breath-taking. The combination of enclosed courtyards and open public spaces inspired me to create a building with two faces. The first one is set to all those coming from the north towards Vítězné náměstí. This face is serious and solid. It doesn‘t smile. It‘s monumental. It is addressed to all comers, strangers, foreigners. The other face is shown only to the acquaintances. It is seen by those who are already in Dejvice and can look out. She smiles at them. She plays hide-and-seek with them. She blends into her surroundings and only slightly looks out from her cover, which she turns to the others. I view the building as a living being. It will live and evolve. She and her old friend across the street lean in and chat, letting all the traffic flow between them and keeping an eye on it, embodying the Dejvická Gate.

The plan drawn up in 1921 for the new urban design of Dejvice was so sophisticated that we do not even notice the continuity between the existing Bubeneč and the newly emerging district. The main centre of focus for the entire design is Vítězné náměstí, from which roads run in six directions. It was an elegant solution to deal with the connection between the checkerboard urbanism of Bubeneč and the desire for a classically symmetrical circular square with radial street spokes. The imaginary gates/entrances to Dejvice were probably to be built on all six directions, but unfortunately, the plan was never completed in its original form. Only two gates have survived to this day. One is located on Evropská Street. The other one is on Podbabská Street and was the assignment for our studio.

The proposed site is located at the northern end of Dejvice towards Suchdol. Historically, there has always been a building, which was built at the same time as the garages of the Electricity Company. The site is interesting for several reasons. One may be the very fact that it should form the gateway to Dejvice. Another may be, for example, good access to the centre and good availability of amenities in the vicinity. Unfortunately, it also has several shortcomings. The high traffic and the associated traffic noise in the vicinity of the building is really considerable. The orientation is also far from what is considered ideal.

The greater challenge was to create a design that would not just be an ordinary apartment building, but a building that would combine modernity with historical plans, that would respond to the problems of today and that would create a pleasant environment not only for the inhabitants themselves, but also for the people living around the building.