Oblouk House

Welcome to Ostrava, Poruba. Right now, you're facing one of the most significant and largest buildings in this entire city district. In front of you is Oblouk, a building that, with its size and unusual shape, has certainly attracted you at first sight. It is a building that resembles a massive gate, which welcomes you to the space that was once planned as an ideal city for workers. When you look at it, you see a semi-circular shape that surrounds space and creates a sense of a closed but representative complex.

Let us now stop a little bit at how it was created and at what time this building was created. You're standing in front of a monument to the 1950s. The construction of Oblouk began in the year nine hundred and fifty-two and the whole complex was completed in the year nine hundred and fifty-four. It was this year that the first tenants who found their new home in the building moved here. The whole project was designed by an architect named Evžen Šteflíček. The goal was to create something more than just ordinary houses. Oblouk was to be a symbol of a new era, a spectacular entrance to the emerging Poruba, which was to be a demonstration of modern and organized housing for working people.

Now that you are standing here, pay attention to the architecture itself and the details surrounding you. Note that although the building acts as one huge and continuous whole, it actually consists of twelve separate units. It's the fascinating playfulness of an architect who could connect so many different parts into one harmonious semicircle. Look around you and see how the building rhythms the space. A very characteristic element, which you will definitely overlook, are the passages designed for communication that allow you to flow through the building, and a dominant clock tower that serves as an orientation point for all those who pass through here. The whole style is called socialist realism, which was the direction that emphasized monumentality, clarity and celebration of work.

When we talk about the history of this place, we cannot forget the significant personalities that met with Oblouk. This building was such an important symbol of the development at that time that it became a pit stop for the leaders of the then power. In the year nine hundred and fifty-seven, the famous Soviet leader Nikita Sergei Khrushchev, who accompanied Czechoslovak President Antonín Novotný, hosted here. Imagine the atmosphere, the amount of escort and the importance this visit had at that time. Oblouk was not just an ordinary house, it was an exhibition cabinet of the then social arrangement and architectural ambitions.

Now, I want to impress you with one interesting thing that may not be visible at first sight, but gives the building a deeper meaning. The architect Evžen Šteflíček was inspired by the main staff building in St Petersburg. If you ever visit that Russian city, you'll notice a similar semi-circular arrangement. However, there was a very interesting change in the symbols in Ostrava. While you will find a horse team in St. Petersburg, here in Poruba there is a relief that represents the everyday life of ordinary people. You can see here the representation of going to work and returning home. It is a beautiful detail that transfers monumental architecture from military or state power to the realm of ordinary man and his daily efforts.

It's fascinating to realize how the perception of this building changed over time. From its completion in the 1950s to the present time, the building passed through various stages. Its historical and architectural value was finally officially recognised in the year two thousand eight, when Oblouk was declared a cultural monument. This step was to ensure its contribution to future generations in order to act as evidence of the concrete era of our history and as a demonstration of the urban planning of that time.

Now, if you look again at the overall composition of the building, consider it a bridge between the past and the present. Oblouk remains the largest building in the territory of the new Poruba and still dominates the surrounding landscape. It is a place where the ambition of architects meets the reality of the daily life of thousands of people who live and live here.

Let's slowly finish this short chapter of your guide. I hope that this information has helped you understand better why this building is so special and what it holds except concrete and bricks. Now you can take a quiet look at the facade, walk through the passes or just watch a game of time on the clock tower. I invite you to further explore the surroundings of Poruba, which has many other hidden stories and architectural pearls. Thank you for your attention and I wish you a pleasant continued journey to explore. Goodbye.