A word from the architect

Modern man is eclectic. He always see the positive side of everything without letting any related negative aspects limit him. The old truth that a coin has both heads and tails has been replaced by a new ideal: a two-headed coin. Architects, and not only us, are currently standing before expectations that cannot be fulfilled without transcending long-established truths. Central Park Praha was a huge challenge for us to test the validity of several stereotypes. It was a challenge to newly respond to several questions connected with living in the city centre:

Does living in the centre have to mean being cut off from nature and wide open spaces? Do I always have to cross a street to get to a park? Does living in the centre have to mean constant parking problems? Do I have to be afraid for my children in the city centre when I let them play outside? Why should living on the ground floor be worse than living on higher floors? Could family houses be stacked on each other? Can I pursue gardening even on the fourth floor? What use are balconies when you can’t dine on them? Why can’t I have a view in three directions from a small flat? Can I walk around the circumference of a flat in a block of flats from the outside? Why does each bedroom only have its own bathroom in hotels? Why can't Žižkov be a modern residential neighbourhood?

When designing Central Park Praha we let ourselves be inspired by these and several other questions. It would be too boastful of us to claim that we searched for a recipe for a happy and satisfied life. Architecture does not have such powers. From a perspective of life itself it is just one of its factors. But from a perspective of a comfortable life architecture is an absolutely essential factor.

Ing. arch. Jaroslav Wertig
A69 – architekti