The workers’ settlement of Buďánka in Prague was a distinctive rural colony preserved in the middle of the city. She lived for herself, but then the local workers lost their jobs and the settlement began to decline. The barracks, which were not destroyed under the Communists, were reached at the beginning of the new millennium by the leadership of Prague 5. Now the remaining ruins are brought to life by an association of citizens, experts and others.
Buďánka is a former workers’ settlement, which was established in the first half of the 19th century on the border of the then still independent villages of Smíchov and Košíře. It was built by workers from a nearby sandstone quarry, their dwellings sometimes took on bizarre shapes, various outbuildings were glued to the original houses, and other buildings were just built. In a small space in the hillside, something was gradually created that could be named “every dog has a different village”. Maybe that also made this rural green island unique in the city, which was also noticed by the writer Jakub Arbes.
Golden times of the settlement. | Photo: Archive of the Capital City of Prague
Unfortunately, Budánka was created by the road to Pilsen and it gradually grew until today’s main road from Smíchov in Prague. The settlement was constantly reduced and demolished, the residents gradually moved out, the environment became more and more alternative. At the turn of the 70’s and 80’s, the recently deceased evangelical pastor and songwriter Svatopluk Karásek lived here. The underground group The Plastic People of the Universe rehearsed in his house, and dissidents met there.
In the 1980s, almost all the houses were bought from the owners, and according to the 1988 zoning decision, a large panel house with flats for the Ministry of the Interior was to be built in their place. But then came the Velvet Revolution and the torso of Budánek and the last inhabitants breathed a breath of new life. In 1991, the City of Prague declared the area a village monument zone and everything seems to be on the right track, however, nothing fundamental was still done to save it.
In 2002, the controversial era of the Mayor of Prague 5, Milan Jančík, began. Instead of the announced reconstruction, other houses went to the ground. The gradual destruction of the settlement was documented by one of the last three permanent residents, photographer and journalist Ludvík Hradilek. After this period, there were houses without roofs and somewhere only the remains of demolished walls and in which growing trees.
In 2006, Prague 5 leased this monument zone to a development company, but its oversized design for four terrace houses with 47 flats was rejected by conservationists. Later, two proposals were made for even larger apartment complexes. A year later, a civic association of experts and citizens was born to revitalize the Budánek monument zone and its surroundings. They wanted to keep this unique place in its picturesque form, small buildings, greenery, full pedestrian paths and bizarre stairs.
The ruins that remained of Budanky. | Photo: Wikimedia Commons – Aktron (CC BY-SA 2.0)
“In 2013, after a persistent effort, the developer managed to terminate the contract and create the first overall revitalization of this monument zone. It was clear that if there is no quality project for the renovation of Buďánek, another developer may soon come,” says painter Veronika Palečková. She teamed up with locals and from the surrounding area, as well as with many Czech and foreign experts – architects and urban planners. Their joint program “Budanka – an island in the city” is a pilot project of cooperation between the town hall and civil society, where the vision, expertise, energy of citizens and experts are used for the benefit of the municipality.
In 2014, the association signed a memorandum of cooperation with the city district of Prague 5. At the end of the same year, it received a donation from ČSOB in the amount of five million crowns, which helped to fundamentally start the revitalization. In cooperation with the city district, after many years of use by homeless people and squatters, they cleaned, static and secured buildings, conducted historical and restoration research, developed a project to restore networks in the entire monument zone and covered six buildings.
For three and a quarter million of the grant from the Partnership Fund in the Swiss-Czech Cooperation Program, the association found an international round table of experts who dealt with the overall revitalization of the area. With the help of Prague 5, together with the Lennox Architects studio, the Architects reconstructed the first building – a former dairy. This so-called Colonial was ceremoniously opened in 2016 with the participation of the mayor and the Swiss ambassador.
“This small, almost functionalist house on the very edge of Buďánky was supposed to be a harbinger of change and to show that it is really starting to live here,” says Jan Fiala, an art teacher at Buďánky. It really lives around the Colonial, events such as Architecture Day or Experience the city differently take place here. Documentary films are screened and he debates with the director as part of the Filmmakers in Buďánky series. People come here for various courses, lectures or yoga. “New hives were also established here and the first plain honey was spun,” Palečková adds.
At the end of 2018, the Budánka company announced and organized an architectural workshop on the overall revitalization of the monument zone. The guarantors are Professor Architect Josef Pleskot and Professor Architect Petr Keil.
The first promise of the new Budánky: a reconstructed colonial building. | Photo: ČKA
Within the participatory budget of Prague 5, when citizens choose what is to be improved in a given part of the budget, the proposal for the establishment of community bakeries in the building of the former Jehankovská carpentry, the idea to restore a set of old varieties and vineyards, which already has a building permit, won. , as well as the “Lighthouse of Changes” project, which aims to revive a weedy place adjacent to the future orchards.
“We are also planning a place for small concerts and a place where children could just hang out or create something,” says Veronika Palečková. At the same time, he believes that Budanka will be able to gradually start working in two to three years. The houses are small, so they should not be dizzying amounts for reconstruction. Optimism is also given by the fact that the association has the opportunity to work with the best experts and architects. They are not just interested in revitalizing a unique piece of Smíchov.
“We are striving for this cooperation of active citizens and enthusiastic experts with the city for a more mature democracy in the Czech Republic, which is really needed. The Danish senator encouraged us with the words: ‘You must be patient, consistent and not giving up. Your democracy is young, we with us we have it for almost 200 years. ‘ So we are patient and we continue, “Palečková concludes.