Prof. Dr. Štefan Šlachta
Professor at the Academy of Graphic Arts in Bratislava
President of The Slovakian Architecture Association
Bratislava - Slovakia
E-mail: slachta@afad.sk
The second transformation – Return to normalcy?
Most Slovakian cities were founded about 700 to 800 years ago. The historical city centres make up
for just a small portion of their present urban structure. The lion’s share of this new development are
the buildings of the twentieth century during which the largest growth of the cities occurred following
the year 1918, that is, after the creation of the independent Czechoslovakian Republic.
After 1948, when the communist regime took power, the first transformation began. The intention was
to change the so-called bourgeois cities into workers’ cities. The original structures were intentionally
destroyed and replaced with new structures: prefabricated “panel” communities with thousands of
residents.
This transformation
–
ignored the historical structures, either destroying them or leaving them to dilapidate
without maintenance,
–
provided new solutions to transportation which preyed upon a large portion of the
original architectural outlines,
–
constructed new political focal points in the cities,
–
liquidated the urban parterre with the removal of private ownership.
This process lasted for forty years under the communist government and it has done enormous damage
to the urban development of the cities.
A change came following 1989, bringing with it new social and economic relations. Many positive,
but also negative elements were added to Slovakian cities. This is the second transformation, and its
goal is the return to a normal – and no longer political – development of contemporary cities.
The second transformation can be summarized as follows:
–
with the recreation of private property the buildings themselves have owners once
again, and this resulted in the renovation and reconstruction of these buildings,
–
the construction of prefabricated “panel” buildings was stopped,
–
the infringement of panel buildings upon the original urban structures was also
interrupted,
–
the destroyed urban structures were reunited again,
–
the year long unoccupied holes were filled step by step,
–
the urban parterre was reintroduced,
–
the redevelopment of the historical city centres including the streets, the public squares
and buildings began,
–
transport problems were solved by the construction of parking houses.
Whereas the development under the previous regime was ruled by politics, now it is influenced by
capital, which has the following disadvantages:
–
construction of skyscrapers without serious planning
–
the introduction of shopping centres (malls) to the city centre (Košice, Žilina)
–
arrogance vis-à-vis the historical dignity of cities (Rbk)
–
only the occasional addition of artistic work to the architecture
–
an increasing lack of architectural quality
–
a lack of architectural competition
The third transformation, en route right now, should bring with it a reconstruction and humanization of
communities.