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Zlaty andel project gives Prague 5 a face-lift By Tricia Deering Architecture once again directs the world spotlight to Prague Architecture once again directs the world spotlight to Prague. From the Art Nouveau ladies adorning lampposts and muscular Davidian men supporting pillars, from Gothic rotundas, grand Renaissance concert halls and the not-so-celebrated Socialist architecture, Prague now stands amid its era of modern architecture. This time, world-renowned French architect Jean Nouvel brings an adventurous creation to Smichov, Prague 5. Investors approached Nouvel more than 10 years ago to design the multipurpose business center, now known as the Zlaty andel project, a 1 billion Kc ($27.77 million) development by Netherlands-based ING Real Estate. Clocking in at 32.5 meters (107.25 feet) high, the glass-intense building's facade will display the contour of an angel intended to guard the busy Andel intersection, which will be created by splicing film between sheets of glass. Clouds will float across the exterior, with an artistic technique called serigraphy. Poetry about angels will be featured randomly across the facade. Construction is slated to be complete by November 2000. City planners, business people and officials alike believe the project, in conjunction with other existing and planned revitalization projects for Prague 5, will give a much-needed jump-start to this depressed former industrial core of Prague. "The Zlaty andel project from ING will be an indisputable boost for Smichov," said Prague city councilor Filip Dvorak. "The city is interested in changing its approach to Smichov by transforming it into a section of the Prague city center that has realized its full potential. Zlaty andel is the first positive step in this area, and I hope that others will follow." Retail lessees to date include Marks & Spencer, Sony and Euronova's Mana supermarket, while office lessees include the Prumyslovy penzijni fond and ING sister company Nationale Nederlanden Insurance. Occupancy rates to date stand at 40 percent of the 13,000-square-meter (139,932-square-foot) available office space and 70 percent of the 7,000-square-meter (75,348-square-foot) available retail space, said Tomas Kaderabek, ING's technical asset manager. A 224-space parking lot and two restaurants will accompany the center, while the Andel metro entrance will be inside the building. After the controversial modern architecture "Dancing Building," those involved in the project braced themselves for outcry over yet another modern business building. But even the architectural watchdog group Prague Gremium approves of Zlaty andel. "From the point of view of architecture it's not a problem, because Jean Nouvel is a respected architect all over Europe, and it will be good to have an interesting building from such an architect," said Jiri Kotalik, Prague Gremium president. That the structure is outside Prague's historical center adds to this approval rating. "I think locations like Andel, Karlin, and Holesovice are the right places for this kind of project," he said. Kotalik, a professor of architectural history at Prague's Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), has only minor reservations about the structure: "Perhaps it's too large and too high a percentage of the building's surface is glass." Eva Kopecka, a former 20-year resident of Smichov, remembers the days when communist planners tore down the turn-of-the-century restaurant U Andela and later put in the Moskevska (Moscow) metro stop, which since has been renamed Andel. She shrugs off criticisms that the modern building stands out from the neighborhood's centuries-old architecture. "In Prague on one street alone there are three or four styles of architecture -- Renaissance, Baroque, Gothic, Secession. And why not have new architecture beside this?" she said. Though the restaurant did not survive communism, the angel fresco that adorned the facade did. That fresco has been restored and will be displayed behind glass inside the new business complex, Kaderabek said. And with Nouvel's angelic facade, the modern building name and concept honor the location's history. The City Development Authority Prague's office has found overwhelming support for the architecture. "There was no opposition to this, even at a time when it is popular in Prague to oppose everything," said Alena Horejsi, head of the Prague 5 district planning division. Horejsi's office sets the zoning rules for development in the city of Prague and declared that the building must be shorter than the towers of St. Wenceslas church just blocks away. The new center certainly will change the face of Smichov, Horejsi said, but in an appropriate fashion. Considering that Smichov is a major transportation hub and that little office space is available in Prague, the neighborhood stands poised to attract other business development. Total available office space in Prague is roughly 2 million square meters (21.5 million square feet), with an overall 3-5 percent vacancy rate, according to city records coupled with private market research, estimated Alan Colquhoun, managing director of DTZ Debenham Zadelhoff, a leasing agency for Zlaty andel. The city does not track vacancy rates in Prague, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Zlaty andel may soon have neighbors -- adjacent to and across the street from Zlaty andel on Plzenska street, two more multipurpose centers are scheduled, Horejsi said. The locations of two former tram-parts factories (CKD and Tatra) will be turned into an administrative, cultural and retail center. Investors currently are being sought and the completion date is not yet certain, she said. Colquhoun projects an economic lift for the area, as is the trend following construction of a major business center such as Zlaty andel. Meanwhile, construction continues -- the north entrance to the Andel metro closed on June 1, and will reopen later this summer. Nouvel, born in Fumel, France, in 1945, has been noted for creating works that defy categorization. His designs include the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, the Foundation Cartier in Paris, the Baltic House in London and the Tokyo Opera House. The Swiss director Beat Kuert immortalized Nouvel earlier this year in a documentary entitled Jean Nouvel: L'esthetique du miracle. In 1981, Francois Mitterrand commissioned a series of Gran Projets, which netted Nouvel the first prize. In 1987 he was awarded the Gran Prix d'Architecture for his work and the Equerre d'Argent for minimalist-style furniture. The city counselor points out that this is not the first architect from abroad brought to Prague to practice this art. "Significant investors during the Renaissance and Baroque periods brought in architects and builders from abroad to make some of the greatest palaces of Prague," Dvorak said. "ING is merely following the traditions of its predecessors."
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