UNESCO Prague does not impose any rules, the municipality is paving the way for investors, says the historian
The possible demolition of the administrative buildings of the Military Buildings has once again begun to talk about the threat of removing the Prague Monument Reserve from the UNESCO list. Is it a real risk?
UNESCO is not fundamentally related to the current case and we do not have to connect it so causally. When Prague was declared a monument thirty years ago, the protection of modern architecture did not play a crucial role in this.
I am afraid that the case of the House of Military Buildings is distinctive for UNESCO. But I also speak against each other, because I am an admirer of architecture of this kind and I also do not want the building to be demolished.
So do you think this particular case is more about the fact that another brutal structure can go to the ground?
Certainly. The case of the administrative building of the Military Buildings concerns the problem of endangering the architecture of the second half of the 20th century. There is simply no general agreement on their qualities. And UNESCO will not primarily deal with the brutalist architecture of Prague, because the priority of why Prague is listed as a World Heritage Site is different.
What are the priorities?
Prague is protected as a world monument, for example, due to its extraordinary amphitheater locations. An imaginary stage