Revitalisation of Husův Park, Prague Landscape, Superpower Wall, Green Space Project, Czech Architecture Photos
Husův Park – Superpower Wall in Prague
22 Feb 2022
Design: S K U L L studio
Location: Cukrovarská, Ke Stadionu, 196 00 Prague 9 – Čakovice
Photos by Bet Orten
Revitalisation of Husův Park, Superpower Wall
The site which is now home to the Hussite revolution park in Čakovice was historically the location of a village green with a lake. During the era of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the lake was drained and the area converted into a park. During the construction adjustments of that time, the houses that had lined the original lake were demolished. The remainders of the roof gables of these buildings were still visible until the recent reconstruction that took place in the years 2019-2020.
The author of the reconstruction of the park was the landscaping studio Land05, headed by Martina Forejtová. S K U L L studio was invited to take part in the design of the perimeter wall on the southern edge of the park. The outcome is this sculptural-architectural monument – a brick relief, with a degree of hyperbole entitled Superpower Wall.
The theme of transformation is a fundamental idea of the realisation. After the conversion of the original village green, the contours of the gabled roofs remained inscribed in the perimeter walls of the park.
The motif of these diagonal lines, sketches of time, is the basis for the current form of the brick wall – relief, where classic technology of the brick structure is taken to the very edge of practicability. “It’s a memento of what is no longer here, which nevertheless leaves its imprint on the place and time,” describes the author of Superpower Wall, the sculptor Matěj Hájek from S K U L L studio.
In contrast with the traditional construction material, the wall is furnished with a nano-technological transparent coating, which thanks to its photocatalytic properties (without chemicals and waste substances) cleans the surrounding air.
The surface of the wall is impregnated with titanium dioxide, which together with UV radiation is capable of liquidating up to several kilograms of harmful substances per year on a surface of 1 m2. The unique technology was developed by Czech scientists from the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry.
“The invisible plays a dual role here. On one hand there’s the nano-technological coating which depends on sunlight in order to function, and on the other is memory, fragments of recollections that exist only in our imagination. What is essential is not what we see, but precisely that which escapes our vision,” adds Hájek.
The brick relief wall is complemented in close proximity by a water feature designed by the XTOPIX studio, the dark surface of which is reminiscent in its colour of the bed of the former lake.
Revitalisation of Husův Park Superpower Wall in Prague, CZ – Building Information
Design: S K U L L studio – http://skullstudio.net/
Author: Matěj Hájek
Contact E-mail: [email protected]
Social media: www.instagram.com/skull_studio_prague
Studio address: Na Maninách 22, 170 00 Prague 7, Czech Republic
Co-author Helena: Znamenaná
Project location: Cukrovarská, Ke Stadionu, 196 00 Prague 9 – Čakovice, Czech Republic
Project year: 2016 – 2018
Completion year: 2020
Built-up Area: 17,8 m²
Plot size park: 8000 m²
Dimensions: 39 x 0,45-0,66 x 3.4 m
Client: Municipal District of Prague-Čakovice
Collaborator: Realisation: Brickwork, www.brickwork.cz
General designer: Land05, www.land05.cz
Water feature: XTOPIX architects, www.xtopix.cz
Products and Brands
FN NANO® TRANSPARENT FUNCTIONAL COATING
Materials
raw masonry from full bricks for outside use
earthenware bricks
transparent air-cleaning coating
About S K U L L studio
Matěj Hájek (born 1982, Prague) is a Czech artist and founder member of the Ztohoven collective (2003), working under the pseudonym Otto Horsi. He was born in Prague in 1982. In 2003 he commenced his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Veronika Bromová new media studio. He is a graduate of the Jaroslav Róna sculpture studio.
His creative work is located on the boundary between architecture, sculpture and land art. He has focused for several years on the relationship of architecture and its playful function, realised in the form of extensive projects for children’s playgrounds such as the Bororo Reservation at Prague Zoo, or the PECKA Play Zone in Velká Úpa.
Projects to which he has contributed have won awards such as the Architecture Grand Prix, Wooden Construction of the Year or nomination for Czech Grand Design. Since October 2019 he has been a PhD. student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Together with the photographer Bet Orten he founded the S K U L L studio, which upon the invitation of the head curator Hashim Sarkis took place in the 17th annual Venice Architecture Biennale. Matěj Hájek lives and works in Prague.
Photographer: Bet Orten – https://betorten.com/, [email protected]
Revitalisation of Husův Park, Prague images / information received 220222
Location: Cukrovarská, Ke Stadionu, 196 00 Prague 9, Čakovice, Czech Republic, central eastern Europe
Architecture in Prague
Prague Architecture
Prague Building Designs – chronological list
Architecture Tours Prague – Czech capital city walks by e-architect
J&T Finance Group Headquarters, Sokolovská 700/113a, Prague 8 – Karlín
Design: CMC architects
photograph : BoysPlayNice
J&T Finance Group Headquarters
Elementary School Amos, Pražská 1000, Dolní Jircany, 252 44 Psáry, Czech Republic
Architects: SOA architekti
photos : Jakub Skokan and Martin Tuma
Elementary School Amos for Psáry & Dolní Jircany
Comments / photos for the Revitalisation of Husův Park – Superpower Wall, Prague designed by S K U L L studio page welcome
