The glass replacement at the Exhibition Grounds has begun, and the restorers are repairing five thousand stained glass windows
From the popular terraces on the second floor of the Industrial Palace is now the construction site. At present, the careful liquidation and restoration of stained glass windows is taking place here.
“Each panel is anchored in a steel supporting frame using a glazier’s kit with added blueberry. Kyt is solid as concrete, ”explains Zdeněk Kudláček from the Kolektiv Ateliers studio, who is in charge of restoring stained glass.
According to him, everyone needs to be carefully broken and removed without the risk of fragile glass. “We had to create our own special tools and equipment. With the help of chisels with a hammer tap, we gently nurture and gently remove the individual fillings, ”describes the master of the stained glass workshop and the special projects workshop made of glass.
The stained glass windows together form a total of 5,023 glass panels. These consist of a total of 107,700 individual glasses embedded in lead warps. The stained glass windows have a total area of more than two hockey rinks, making it the largest such renovation in the Czech Republic in the last hundred years.
“Our colleague, the restorer Zdeněk Henych, who carried out the last general reconstruction of the stained glass fifty years ago, is also taking part in the repairs. At that time, he started restoring here at the age of twenty, today he is returning here after years, ”adds Kudláček.
Glass damaged by heat
The restorers will remove each glass, clean it and place it in new lead profiles. However, some glass will need to be replaced – especially the one on the west wall of the middle pavilion. During the fire in the left wing of the palace, they were irreversibly damaged by extreme heat.
“It caused the steel structure to heat up. Almost all the glass on the west wall of the middle pavilion cracked because of that, ”describes Kudláček.
The market in Holešovice will be greener, water features and a new square will be added |
The builders began the reconstruction at the beginning of this year.
“I believe that despite the complications that come with the consequences of the covid pandemic, rising building materials and problems with workers related to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, we will build the construction to meet the intentions of the investor (the capital city of Prague, note Red.), “Says Karel Wolf, chairman of the board of directors of Metrostav DIZ, which is jointly renovating the industrial palace with Syner and Avers.
The construction company will also build a replica of the burnt-out wing, which will, however, be equipped with modern technologies inside, such as air conditioning and a shading system.
Go through Stromovka
Since its inception, the Industrial Palace has been used for exhibitions and other cultural events. It was built according to the design of the architect Bedřich Münzberger for the Jubilee Provincial Exhibition in 1891.
it was supposed to be only a temporary construction, but in the end it was preserved until an unfortunate fire in 2008. The construction works are planned so that during the reconstruction cultural events can take place in the rest of the Exhibition Center.
For example, the Dyzajn market of the Tatras conference is held here in May, and the popular Book World is held here in June. “They recommend visitors to travel to the area on foot from Stromovka,” says Tomáš Hübl, Chairman of the Board of Výstaviště Praha.