#Apartment block #Prague (Praha) #1926
Blanická 2028/15
120 00
Prague (Praha),
Czechia
Public transport: Náměstí Míru
Today's use: Apartment house
Description
The central part of the building stands out as avant-corps. From the 1st-4th floor, the windows at this point are double casement windows. These windows close with their frame exactly on the facade, which gives the house its elegance and lightness. On both sides there are long casement windows that reach up to the 5th floor. Very elegantly, the first floor is surrounded on the sides by two balconies that transmits the depth of the avant-corps to the sides. In the central part of the 5th floor is executed a kind of covered terrace with pillars that rest on the avant-corps. Especially this terrace makes the design of the house expressive. In the left part of the building is set at least a 7th floor, possibly an 8th in the rear. This left part is covered by a flat roof. The middle and right part of the building carries a flat pointed roof.
The first floor is covered with stone slabs of travertine.
The way the pillars and roof of the terrace are constructed, most probably the house is made of reinforced steel.
Description
The central part of the building stands out as avant-corps. From the 1st-4th floor, the windows at this point are double casement windows. These windows close with their frame exactly on the facade, which gives the house its elegance and lightness. On both sides there are long casement windows that reach up to the 5th floor. Very elegantly, the first floor is surrounded on the sides by two balconies that transmits the depth of the avant-corps to the sides. In the central part of the 5th floor is executed a kind of covered terrace with pillars that rest on the avant-corps. Especially this terrace makes the design of the house expressive. In the left part of the building is set at least a 7th floor, possibly an 8th in the rear. This left part is covered by a flat roof. The middle and right part of the building carries a flat pointed roof.
The first floor is covered with stone slabs of travertine.
The way the pillars and roof of the terrace are constructed, most probably the house is made of reinforced steel.
History
The German tire manufacturer Continental from Hanover opened a branch in Czechoslovakia. Rudolf Pick and Adolf Stern were appointed as general agents, both representing the company for the whole of Czechoslovakia. Their business boomed until the company Baťa started to produce cheaper tires during the 1930s.
Both engineers were Jews. Rudolf Pick (born 1885) was transported to Terezín in 1942, then to Auschwitz, where his and his whole family's traces were lost. In contrast, Adolf Stern and his family survived the war. This newspaper article is about Adolf Stern. Pictures of the two engineers are shown and their life story is told by Hugo Sklenář, the son of Adolf Stern. After World War II Adolf Stern turned his last name into Sklenář. His wife was Anna Sklenářová, so they seemed to be more Czech and neither Jewish nor possibly German.
Both engineers commissioned the Jewish architects to build the house in 1926. It was finished in 1928. On the first floor were the offices of the main agency. On the upper floors were apartments into which the Pick and Stern families themselves moved.
Today at the ground floor is situated a training centre.
History
The German tire manufacturer Continental from Hanover opened a branch in Czechoslovakia. Rudolf Pick and Adolf Stern were appointed as general agents, both representing the company for the whole of Czechoslovakia. Their business boomed until the company Baťa started to produce cheaper tires during the 1930s.
Both engineers were Jews. Rudolf Pick (born 1885) was transported to Terezín in 1942, then to Auschwitz, where his and his whole family's traces were lost. In contrast, Adolf Stern and his family survived the war. This newspaper article is about Adolf Stern. Pictures of the two engineers are shown and their life story is told by Hugo Sklenář, the son of Adolf Stern. After World War II Adolf Stern turned his last name into Sklenář. His wife was Anna Sklenářová, so they seemed to be more Czech and neither Jewish nor possibly German.
Both engineers commissioned the Jewish architects to build the house in 1926. It was finished in 1928. On the first floor were the offices of the main agency. On the upper floors were apartments into which the Pick and Stern families themselves moved.
Today at the ground floor is situated a training centre.
