Taking stock of the industrial heritage in the Czech Rep
The Czech Republic is a country with a fascinating industrial heritage all too often overshadowed by the Renaissance or the Baroque. Anyone who has ever travelled through Prague's formerly working-class districts of Karlin and Holesovice, for example, or has cycled in the north or east of the country, will have taken note of beautiful but crumbling 19th century factories, forgotten textile plants and old mills, falling apart girder by girder, brick by brick.
There have been some changes: the last five years especially have seen a significant rise in successful conversions of old buildings, especially in Prague. New life has painstakingly been breathed into industrial buildings converted into new cultural centres, apartments, businesses, and shopping areas.
While not all projects have been successful - some have come under heavy criticism -buildings gutted and redesigned with little or no 'place-memory', more investors and developers are beginning to approach projects with a greater understanding. That in part thanks to the work of institutions like the Research Centre for Industrial Heritage. The centre launched an important biennale and conference in Prague this week called "Vestiges of Industry".
The 3rd so far, this biennale has aimed not only to increase general public awareness but also to sound the alarm. The head of the Research Centre Benjamin Fragner:
"One of the main aims is to warn the public that industrial-era buildings are disappearing, collapsing before our very eyes. This despite the fact that they could be restored and they could still play an economic and urban role."
England's Keith Faulkner, of Working Heritage - an EU 2000 project on industrial legacy - agrees the exhibition should help:
"About the importance of Czech industry: it was one of the pioneer industrial countries from the early 19th century onwards. The railways reaching in 1845, many engineering firms became worldwide in their reputation, and this exhibition just reinforces the impression that industrial heritage is very rich."
The biennale notes success stories too: in its exhibition in Karlin with its splashy catalogue it takes stock in around 30 projects: former factories, steam plants, engineering works and more, reinvented for the 21st century.
It should come as a surprise to no one that the biennale has attracted many visitors. Whether for personal or professional interests, they all share one thing: fascination with industrial buildings and style.
One visitor told me that even though the trend in conversion here was far younger, it was slowly catching on. And specialists like Germany's Axel Fohl - attending the conference - told me they were enthusiastic about what the future held.
"I've been following the situation [in the Czech Republic] for a couple years now I'm lucky to day, with growing admiration. There is an understanding here, and has been from the beginning, that this is an important part of national history. The Czechs always provided the factories for the Austrian empire, so all important developments in terms of new machinery took place here. It is an important part of the national heritage and there seems to be an awareness now that this is the case."
The problem, Fohl and other experts admit, is that there remains substantial risk.
"You are perfectly right in stating that there is a 'pioneer phase' where creative people take over, whether it is in New York or here in Prague. And, then Big Capitalism moves in and sort of 'occupies' the place the 'creatives' have prepared, realising they can make a profit out of it. And, that certainly is a danger if you look at it from the perspective of telling people something about history.
Because the traces of history are in danger of disappearing too much, and, in every case it's a new fight to make stuff survive that's important. To make traces of historic labour still visible in the building. You can do that. It's possible to do that and there are examples that show it's possible, but it's not the first thing an investor thinks of, of course."
Jan V: It's also possible to appeal to investors by making them aware that 'what they've got here' is something that no one else will have...
"That's exactly the point. And, that's what every investor realises if he's clever. Being 'distinct' from other offers on the market is really a trademark of the conversion of industrial buildings by now, whether you take Berlin or Paris or whatever. That gives us reason to hope for more."
But, conversion and conservation both - in different degrees of balance - are by no means the only way of reinventing buildings, there are other fascinating alternatives. One involves outlining specific sites for observation: leaving them be, to let people see them in their natural state of dilapidation and decay. Paul Smith works for industrial heritage preservation in France:
"A building in a state of abandon and ruin speaks to the imagination, you know, you wonder about what went on it before, and so on. For the first time, in France, they are thinking of applying a method so to speak that has been seen in Germany, in Volkingen in particular, of just letting the building slowly decay.
Letting the building fall back into its natural state of rust and ruin and invasive vegetation, but, accompanying that ruin with a restitution of the history of the site, explaining what it did. The building in the state of a ruin is never preserved as such, although it is a representative of the industrial archaeology and heritage today."
For now, in the Czech Republic, there are still of plenty of areas - abandoned factories, warehouses, forgotten mills - that you can still see in their original form. They are of course failing, already in poor shape.
If not converted in the future, they will definitely disappear.
Organisers of "Vestiges" have even published a guidebook on industrial gems near the formerly coal-and-steel town of Kladno outside of Prague - to visit, so to speak, while they're still there. And, that's just a start. A book on Prague sites is also in the works.
Of course when viewing dilapidated structures be sure to keep a distance. Otherwise, your industrial excursion could lead to places you never expected to go. The project's art historian Lukas Beran:
"I'm sure there that even after we publish the guide there will still be ample opportunity for people to still go out and find new industrial places, hidden but also dangerous, to break their legs or be chased off by guard dogs!"
