Horná Sihoť (1935)

The most comprehensive project by architect Ferdinand Silberstein-Silvan is the Horná Sihoť housing estate. It was designed as an extension of the city to the east of the centre.

The complex culminates in the commercial academy. It is built in an L-shape and has similarities to the bank in Nitra, which the architect also designed. The vertical cube for the staircase and the more horizontally designed areas for the rooms are very similar. 

Related to the housing estate it is not exactly clear which houses were designed by which architect. It is at least clear that the houses directly next to the academy were also built by Silberstein-Silvan. Like these, the houses in Gernála Goliana and Hodžova streets are also apartment blocks, whereas the houses in Hurbanova Street were designed as terraced houses.

All in all, there are 21 apartment houses and 40 detached houses on the estate, most of which are terraced houses.

It is not often in Slovakia that an entire housing estate project was realised in the 1930s in the style of International Modernism.

As was often the case in Czechoslovakia, this project was intended to express the progressiveness of the state. There were various industries in Trenčín that helped the town achieve economic success. Another advantage for the town was its location on one of the most important railway lines in the region between Bratislava and Žilina. For this reason, more people moved to the city. This meant that more new buildings were needed.

For a long time, it was assumed that two architects were responsible for the plan: Ferdinand Silberstein-Silvan and Karel Říha. No first prize was awarded for the plans in the 1931 tender. The second prize was won by Karel Říha from Prague. As Jozef Čery demonstrates in his essay on the neighbourhood, disagreements arose between Karel Říha and the Trenčín city administration. He accused the municipality of having pushed ahead with the construction plans for the neighbourhood without his knowledge. In the end, the city council did not even pay him an indemnity fee.

In a second round in 1935, no one won a first prize again, but it was decided that Ferndinand Siberstein-Silvan would be responsible for the entire complex. 

• Urbanizácia mesteskej části Horná Sihoť - Trenčín
• Obchodná akadémia Milana Hodžu
• www.bodk7.sk
• www.trencan.sk datumy výstavby Trenčína