Kardinála Berana 15 Tenement house

Welcome to Pilsen, South Suburbia. Right now, you're standing in front of a building on Cardinal Tup Street number 15. Look at her carefully. In front of you is a building which, by its appearance, deviates significantly from the ordinary image of an older town. It's a house that speaks in its form of courage, modernity and desire for a new one. Feel its clean lines and the way in which individual parts are inserted into the space. It is an architecture that does not try to decorate for the decoration itself, but seeks beauty in simplicity and geometry.

Let us now stop at how this house was created and who was its creator. We write to each other a year a thousand nine hundred thirty-nine. It is a period of full tension, but also a time when modern architecture flourished in Pilsen. It was this year that this rental house was built for the married couple Jaroslav and Libus Nachtigal. Jaroslav was the owner of the gallanery, which was a very lucrative shop at the time with textiles and small accessories. The husbands wanted a house that not only served for rent, but could also live in it in the utmost comfort and style of their time. The architect Václav Neckář was invited to design this ambitious project. He put all his knowledge of the most modern current in architecture, which was functionalism.

Now pay attention to the appearance of the building itself. When you look at her, notice that the house is not just one simple block. Architect Neckář worked with him as a pile of abstract prisms. These shapes fit together and form a dynamic whole. Watch how different surfaces are alternated and how contrast colored platforms are used to provide depth and rhythm to the house. It is a very bold approach, which was supposed to be very modern in the year one thousand nine hundred thirty-nine, and in many ways ahead of its time.

Take a closer look at the details that you can see directly from where you're standing. One of the most significant elements is the bay, which is the protruding part of the building. Notice the unusual shape that resembles a three-arm cross. This element is not only an aesthetic supplement, but it is used to penetrate more light into the space of the house and to give the inhabitants a better view of the surroundings. The entire object is four stories tall and if you look up, you'll see a flat roof. It was a revolutionary idea at the time. The roof wasn't just a cover house, but it was designed as a sun terrace. Imagine those years before the terrace became the standard we know today. It was an oasis of peace and air above the town's noise.

When we think about the people who were connected to this place, we have to get back to investors, Jaroslav and Libus Nachtigal. For them, this house was the pinnacle of their success. But they took the most luxury on the first floor. This is where their own apartment was located. It was not just an ordinary place to live, but the real peak of comfort at the time. The apartment was equipped with an electric heater, which was at the time the top of the technique. While in other houses it had to be heated separately in each room or relied on one central location, the owners were able to control the heat in different floors and spaces more efficiently. It was a symbol of modern life, where technology serves man and gives him maximum comfort.

You might be wondering why this house is so prized today. It is one of the important functionalist structures in Pilsen. Funktionalism says that the form must follow the function. It means that the house is supposed to look the best way to fulfill its purpose without unnecessary ornaments that would only interfere. It is this purity and courage in the use of geometric shapes that caused the object to be officially declared a cultural monument in the year two thousand and one. By doing so, the state acknowledged that the Nachtigal house is not just a common rental house, but an architectural wonder that must be preserved for future generations.

Now, try to imagine what it must have felt like to have people walking around this house in a thousand nine hundred thirty-nine. The surrounding area was probably dominated by traditional houses with sloping roofs and decorative mansions. And suddenly there was this white, prismatic object with a flat roof and an unusual bay. He must have acted like a ship from the future that landed in the middle of Pilsen suburb. It's fascinating to think that even in a troubled year like the year of the building, people found space for creativity, luxury and faith in the modern future.

When you look at the facade today, see it as a record of the time when Plzeň was becoming a modern industrial centre and its inhabitants wanted to live in line with new trends. This house is a silent witness to the changes that the city has been going through, as well as a reminder that good design and quality architecture do not age, but gain value with time.

Now that you've come to know the story of Jaroslav and Libuš Nachtigal's house, I suggest you stay for a while and try to see from different angles how the view of these prisms changes. Notice how light hits the colored surfaces and how the bay in the form of a cross breaks the plane of the wall. It's a geometry lesson in practice.

Thank you for stopping by this beautiful monument. I hope you've felt the spirit of modernity that still radiates from these walls. I will now invite you to another walk in Pilsen and discover other hidden treasures of this city. I wish you a pleasant rest of the day and an inspiring continuation of your journey. We'll listen again at the next stop.