IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A
Abstract
Designated as a World Heritage Site in 1992, concerns regarding the visual integrity of Prague’s Historic Center have been expressed by the World Heritage Committee in its 2021 report. To the committee, the visual integrity of the city is critically impacted by oversized buildings that do not correspond to their historic surroundings, as well as by the height of high-rise buildings that disturbs the city’s panoramic landscape. If left unaddressed, these factors may threaten the designation status and place the historic center on the List of World Heritage in Danger. In response to this report, the paper conducts a retrospective study to trace and provide an overview of the issues that have led to this current situation – which go well beyond the factors of development pressures and inadequate urban management highlighted in the committee’s report. Issues of urban planning, decision-making, and implementation, as well as changes in heritage management, value systems, and standards that occurred over time will be addressed. The objective is to enrich this conversation and raise awareness to the conditions that introduced and shaped the issues of today. In addition, the paper will reiterate aspects of the ongoing debate on the conservation of post-war architecture, exhibiting cases that were heavily criticized regarding their contextuality. It concludes with a reflection on the dilemma that conservationists are now facing and the positions that need to be taken or the compromises that can be imposed between “preserving past issues”, which might hinder future development processes, and protecting built heritage.
Mounir Sabeh Affaki is an architect and a researcher. He holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Coimbra. His research interests are focused on the aspects of heritage, memory, and public spaces and the potentials of architecture and urban planning as tools for post-war social reconciliation, bridging social studies and architecture. Being part of the International Postdoctoral Programme of the Czech Technical University in Prague, his current research is on the conservation of Czech post-war architecture at the Department of Theory and History of Architecture.
Veronika Vicherková studied Humanities at the Faculty of Humanities and History of Art at Charles University. She holds a PhD in History and Theory of Architecture from the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague, where she currently works as part of the Working Group for Post-War Architecture. She is involved in the issues of heritage conservation and protection of (post-war) architecture, art, and public spaces of the second half of the 20th century. She is also a committee member in the Club for Old Prague.
Klára Ullmannová is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University. In her dissertation she focuses on the heritage of architecture of the second half of the 20th century in Czechia. She studied art history at the Charles University in Prague, where she received her Bachelor’s degree. She completed her Master’s degree at Uppsala University, where she graduated from the programme Cultural Heritage and Sustainability. Her research interests include conservation of built cultural heritage and perspectives in heritage studies.
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Wednesday 28th June, 2023