The Prague department store Máj will undergo reconstruction and will close for a year and a half
The future appearance of the Máj shopping center on Národní třída
| photo: Amadeus Real
Two years ago, the Club for Old Prague criticized earlier plans for the reconstruction of Máj, which is a cultural monument. At that time, he stated that the proposed modifications would fundamentally change the shape of the building and unacceptably deform the monument. The developer now states that, in agreement with the conservationists, it will preserve the appearance of the building and restore, for example, the exposed ceilings on the individual floors.
The renovation will begin 50 years after the construction of the department store began in 1972. It should reopen to the public at the end of next year.
“The entire ground floor and the first floor will be closed on April 30, and from May 1 it will no longer be possible to enter OD Máj from Národní třída and walk through the passage. Teska’s retail space will still be available by May 15. Starting on May 16, all entrances to the department store will be closed, “said Václav Klán Jr. from Amádeus Real. According to him, the clearing work will take about three weeks and then the building will be taken over by the construction contractor, which the development company is now selecting.
Swearing at the May department store broke my heart, his architect recalls |
The company Amádeus Real, owned by the Klán family in Prague, stated that it collaborated with the original authors, architects Martin Rajniš and John Eisler, on the design of the reconstruction of Máje. According to the developer, the project also took into account the suggestions of other experts in monument care and urban planning.
“I think that its final form after modernization has combined our original idea well, but it is also a positive step forward. It is simply impossible to preserve the whole state at the level of 50 years back. I believe that the public will like it after the opening, “said architect Rajniš.
The department store on the corner of Spálená and Národní was built on the site of the neo-Gothic Šlik Palace designed by Miroslav Masák, John Eisler and Martin Rajniš from the Liberec studio SIAL, which was founded in 1968 by the author of the Ještěd transmitter Karel Hubáček. May opened with customers on April 21, 1975. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture declared the house a cultural monument.
