Hotel Continental Hotel building

Welcome to one of the most significant buildings in this part of town. You are standing right where history meets modern ambition and where high architecture tries to touch the sky itself. Look up now, really high, and let your eyes watch as this 15-storey building sticks to the sky. It's an impressive view, isn't it? The whole building reaches a height of 50 meters and its presence here in the Veveří district is incomprehensible and strong. Feel the mass and the lightness this tall object carries. You are standing in front of the Continental Hotel, a place that means much more to Brno than just accommodation for passengers.

Let us now return together in time and understand why this building was created. Imagine Brno in the early 1960s. The city was alive, growing and needing new capacity. It needed a place where guests could stay when they came to the store and big events. The need to increase accommodation opportunities for visitors to large trade fairs, which take place at the Brno Exhibition Centre, was the main engine of this project. The entire journey to this monument began in the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-one when construction began. It was a time of great hope for the future and for technical progress. The whole process lasted several years and only on the third day of May in the year one thousand nine hundred sixty-four the hotel opened itself to its first guests. Since then, this object is a fixed point in the panoramic view of the city.

Now pay attention to the very form of the building that now surrounds you. If you could see this object from a height, for example from an airplane or a very high tower, you would see something completely unusual. This geometry is not only an aesthetic choice, but a clever solution that allows the building to have several bright wings that run into space. The architect Zdeněk Řihák was responsible for this unique appearance and for the whole form of the construction. Feel the three shoulders of the building trying to use the space around them. Even when you're looking at a building from the outside, inside it is the spirit of a very specific era. At the time of its creation, the inner space was realized in the so-called Brussels style. This style brings to architecture some elegance, finesse and a specific atmosphere, which was greatly appreciated at the time. It's a combination of functionality and artistic expression that still lives in this tall object.

If you look around now, you might find traces left by important people. Architecture isn't just about stone and concrete, it's about people and their work. In a thousand and nine hundred and sixty-seven, a work of art appeared in front of the hotel, specifically at his swimming pool, giving the place a soul. They're statues called Birds created by a respected artist Olbram Zoubek. These shapes bring softness and artistic dimension to the surrounding building, which contrasts with its high and direct form. Another fascinating story, however, is linked to another character that is connected to this place through its own history. In the year of the thousand nine hundred and seventy here was discovered a commemorative plaque which recalls that it was in this very place that one of the greatest architects of history, Adolf Loos, was born. It is strange and beautiful that this modern tall building stands in a place that is so deeply connected with the roots of world architecture.

You may now wonder if this building is just an ordinary hotel that just stands in the street. But the answer is much deeper. This building has real weight for our country. Since the year two thousand ten, Continental has been officially declared a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. This means that its appearance, its shape and its history are protected as a valuable treasure of our national heritage. Although a smaller part of the building and new underground spaces for cars were added in the year two thousand eleven to meet modern needs, the main face and character of this place remained preserved. It is proof that even such high and modern buildings can have an irreplaceable value in time.

So there are not only fifteen floors of accommodation before you, but a whole century of history, art and human endeavor for beauty and functionality. Feel the atmosphere where the past meets the present. I hope this brief view of the Continental hotel's history has helped you better understand what you are seeing in front of you. Don't forget to look up again and perceive the height and the unusual shape that makes it such an extraordinary object. Continue to walk around and discover other secrets of this city. Thank you for your time and read what other parts of our journey will offer. Goodbye.