From symbols of modernisation to cultural heritage – Slovak post-war department stores such as Prior, Jednota, Dargov, and Ružinov with art historian Karolína Králiková.
From the 1960s onwards, department stores were built throughout Czechoslovakia as part of a centrally planned retail network, becoming new landmarks in city centres and housing estates. They symbolised progress and modernisation, introduced new ways of shopping, shaped public space, and helped define the everyday lives of several generations. Today, they tend to provoke more ambivalent reactions, yet remain a prominent part of towns and cities in both Czechia and Slovakia. What value do department stores from the socialist era have today?
The art historian will present the typology of post-war department stores through selected Slovak examples, from Bratislava and Prešov to smaller regional centres. She will explore their architecture, the circumstances of their construction, and the transformation of this building type within the context of Slovak cities. She will also focus on their present condition – reconstruction, demolition, heritage protection, and the changing public attitude towards buildings from the second half of the 20th century. The lecture will also consider how we view late modernist architecture today and whether these former “temples of consumption” can continue to play an important role in the identity of our cities.
Colour photo: Prior department store and Hotel Kyjev in Bratislava. Photo: Ing. Bohuslav Zemiar
Black-and-white photo: Prior department store in Prešov. Photo: Rajmund Müller
Lecturer: Karolína Králiková, PhD student at the Department of Architecture, Institute of History, Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava; organised by the Brno Architecture Manual, bam.brno.cz
Sun. 4. 10. | 16:00 | Brno House of Arts, Malinovského náměstí 652/2, Brno | Estimated duration: 60 minutes
Autor fotografií: Obchodní dům Prior a hotel Kyjev v Bratislavě, foto: Bohuslav Zemiar. Obchodní dům Prior v Prešově, foto: Rajmund Müller.
