Iconic Barrandov Bridge sculpture collapses after years of neglect
A monumental concrete sculpture that stood beside Prague's Barrandov Bridge for more than three decades collapsed late last week, sending tons of debris onto a nearby road and cycle path. No one was injured, but the incident has sparked debate over the state of public art in the Czech capital.
The six-metre-high, 15-metre-wide sculpture, Rovnováha (Balance), was the work of sculptor Josef Klimeš, who is regarded as one of the most important Czech sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. Created in 1989, Rovnovaha formed part of the artistic concept accompanying the construction of Barrandov Bridge.
Sculptor, educator and public art expert Pavel Karous says it was inseparably linked to its surroundings.
“They commissioned the best sculptor in this field, and I think he came up with a perfect site-specific solution. He took the profile of the Vltava riverbed and turned it into a three-dimensional graphic symbol. When you look at the sculpture, you can see that on the Barrandov side it cascades down like the Barrandov cliffs, while on the opposite side it rises gradually from the sandstone bank. It is essentially the profile of the river."
According to Prague City Hall, officials had long been aware that the sculpture was in poor condition. By coincidence, the city council was due to discuss a proposal on Monday to approve its controlled demolition and replacement with an exact replica.
For Karous, however, Friday's collapse is not an isolated incident but part of a much broader problem.
"In 1992 the institutions responsible for commissioning and maintaining public artworks were abolished and Prague has since lost around 480 works of art in public spaces. This is a shocking number that can only be compared to the Hussite Wars, but back then, cities were burning. Today, Prague is gradually losing valuable works of public art simply through neglect. In most cases, this is the result of neglected maintenance, the privatization of public space, changes to public space, or a combination of these factors.”
Karous believes the sculpture's deterioration was accelerated not only by decades of insufficient maintenance but also by increasingly extreme weather linked to climate change.
"The neglected structure had cracks and water was getting inside. Then you suddenly have 40-degree heat, which was once unimaginable in Prague, followed by torrential rainfall of a kind we weren't used to. That combination proved to be a fatal blow."
The city has previously said it plans to restore the artworks around Barrandov Bridge following the completion of the bridge's reconstruction. Friday's collapse of one of these artworks has now made that task considerably more urgent.
Karous says he hopes that even the destroyed sculpture will return to its original location since it is culturally significant, particularly for younger generations.
"As I understand it, the Prague City Gallery had already scanned and measured the sculpture, so it should be possible to create a very accurate copy – I would say an almost exact replica, even preserving the imprint of the wooden boards used when the concrete was cast. I would be very happy to see it return because it resonates strongly with younger people and with subcultures such as skateboarders, rap artists and the graffiti community."
