A trip to the Czech Radio building mid-reconstruction

Images of the Czech Radio building on Vinohradská Street have been on display all over Prague in recent weeks, in memory of the key role that the building played during the Soviet-led invasion in 1968. But for nearly the last year, the historic site itself has been covered in scaffolding, as the building undergoes a complete refit inside and out. It will take nearly another year to restore the building to its former glory, but to check out how the work is getting on, I donned a hard hat and took a tour:

Czech Radio building in August 1968

I’m currently walking through the underground of the Czech Radio building, but it is not necessarily looking as you or I know it. Instead of those elegant marble floors of yesteryear underfoot, there is rubble all over the place, and builders wherever I look, digging, drilling, clearing up mess etc.

Some of the most famous Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra recordings were made over the years in the building’s studio number one. Today, the studio is a roofless, hollowed shell, and the sounds emanating from the space are slightly less symphonic. Czech Radio’s Director General Václav Kasík, nonetheless, has high hopes for the space:

Czech Radio’s Director General Václav Kasík, photo: Kristýna Maková

“Here we are in the famous studio number one. Maybe it doesn’t look like a studio right now, but let me remind you that this is one of the most central places in Czech Radio’s history. The work going on here right now is to prepare the space acoustically. This studio is actually above the Vinhoradská railway tunnel and the metro. So we are finally insulating the studio properly against vibrations from the trains. When it was built seventy years ago the number of trains passing beneath the studio was many times less. In recent years, the increasing number of trains has caused us many problems.”

Later on in the radio building tour I asked Mr Kasík, who has worked for many years at Český rozhlas, whether he recognized the edifice in its current state:

Photo: Kristýna Maková

“Yes, I definitely do recognise the place, because visually-speaking, it isn’t going to be changing all that much. The only difference is that the construction materials themselves, and the technology inside the building, will be modernized. I am really happy with the way the project is progressing and I think it is being done sensitively, and well.”

The work is set to be finished next April, and if all goes to plan, then Czech Radio employees will be back in the building by next July. The drawings of the end product look impressive, and the work going on inside looks very promising indeed, but there is going to need to be one big sweep-up before all that happens, given the state of everyone’s footwear at the end of the tour.

Photo: Kristýna Maková