Three buildings in the park of the Emmaus Monastery that seem unusual at first glance. Accessible from all four sides, the complex long resembled a fortress. However, after the removal of the bars in 2019, it once again invites visitors, just as its creator had intended. Karel Prager designed and built the trio of pavilions as the headquarters of the future Association of Design Studios (Sdružení projektových ateliérů). The combination of his passion for innovative solutions, the creative influences of the time, and the needs of studio work created a unique blend that is now an indelible part of Czechoslovak architecture of the 1970s.

The Association of Design Studios complex consists of three pavilions and a single-story building, which, in addition to offices, houses an exhibition hall originally intended for the Baucenter, now home to the Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning (CAMP). From the atrium of this building, visitors have a view of the three cubes that seem to float above it. This effect is achieved because the floor plan of the upper two stories is 6 meters wider on all four sides. Prager simply placed a larger cube on top of a smaller one. The result, however, is both striking and efficient. The buildings provide ample space, light, and views within the studios, while the atrium, terraces, and park are situated between them.

If the pavilions remind you of a kindergarten your grandfather built during the “Action Z”, you’re not far from the truth. Their glass façades, which became somewhat excessively widespread during the socialist era, were derived from the original Boletice panels that Prager had manufactured in the village of Boletice. He had to push hard to get them produced there, as Czechoslovakia did not manufacture this type of curtain wall at the time. It is, therefore, a truly unique innovation that Prager first successfully used at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Petřiny and also in the design of the extension to the Federal Assembly. This is one of the patents held by the GAMA studio that Prager incorporated into his designs. In addition to the panel system, these included window sills, cabinet partitions, and suspended ceilings. All of these elements could be found in the pavilions in 1973.

The interior spaces were adapted to the studio work of the time, when architects, designers, and drafters worked at large tables and drafting boards. The building’s floor plan and structure allowed for one or two walls to consist entirely of windows. The aforementioned cabinet partitions provided spatial flexibility, enabling the spaces to be expanded or reduced for different projects and team sizes without major construction work.

Another distinctive feature of the building is its brown ceramic tile cladding, which covers virtually the entire exterior. And not only the exterior. As you walk around the pavilions, you will notice that at the entrance lobbies, the cladding continues through the glazed entrance and follows the staircase all the way up to the top floor. A single material thus accompanies you throughout your visit. Although it’s a subtle detail, it serves as a guide for visitors, ensuring they don’t feel as though they’re entering a place where they don’t belong. Employees, in turn, get a sense of the complex’s cohesiveness, even as they move between the pavilions.

Here at Na Slovanech

Prager’s complex of three pavilions was completed in 1973. However, Prager had been working on the project since 1967, when he already knew that this would be the home of the Association of Design Studios—a place where architectural firms and other experts would create and compete under one roof.

“Although the complex of buildings originally intended for the Association of Design Studios was never fully completed, even in its current form it amazes with its grandeur—and at the same time, its intimacy. Thanks to its well-thought-out design, it seems to levitate above the lawns and shrubs, allowing them to extend all the way to the grounds of the Emmauss Monastery. Its suspended facades reflect the sky while also showcasing the technical sophistication of the structure,” says Radomíra Sedláková, founder and curator of the NGP architecture collection and an expert on the work of Karel Prager.

The site itself came into Prager’s hands as a result of a tragic event: the Allied air raids of 14 February 1945. At that time, not only was the nave of the Church of the Virgin Mary destroyed, but the buildings of the Na Slovanech brewery, its associated movie theater, and other structures also went up in flames. To this day, only the oldest part of the brewery has survived—the cellars, where one can now see the foundations of Pavilion B, which most recently served as a vegetable warehouse and are now awaiting their next use.

Only three cubes? Isn’t that too few?

Prager’s vision, however, did not end with three cubes. The original plans included four pavilions and a fifth corner building at the intersection of Na Moráni and Vyšehradská streets. With the fourth pavilion, Prager would have extended into the area of today’s Pod Slovany Street. Here, terraces for pedestrians, staircases, and underground garages would have been built into the slope. The fourth pavilion speaks the same architectural language, yet again stands out somewhat. Facing today’s Ministry of Health headquarters, the plans show a glass facade extending down to the base. The cube is situated several meters lower down the slope and is thus, when viewed from the river, lower than the other pavilions. In the areas where the second phase was to continue, we now find the entrance to the service corridors and the boiler room.

Like the corner building, the fourth pavilion was to be built after 1973. At that time, however, the project was terminated, and the complex remained in its current form. We can probably imagine what the fourth pavilion would have looked like, but our imagination falls short when it comes to the appearance of the corner building. If you browse through the drawings and examine the models from the GAMA studio, you’ll find the building depicted in several variations. Pieces of tracing paper are pasted directly onto the large-scale drawings, showing subtle changes in the facade details; on other drawings, the building’s architecture appears completely different.

To mark the anniversary of Karel Prager’s birth, we have prepared a vision of the unfinished phase as it can be imagined based on the available materials. The result is a vision of a complex that is open and public, creating new paths rather than barriers. We embrace this idea of Prager’s in our current and future stewardship of the complex.

What follows are simply photographs from a publication released in 1975. One thing about it was interesting: you won’t find the author’s name, Karel Prager, listed here. But more on that another time.