Visiting Pilsen for the Design and Quality Architecture
You can journey to Pilsen not only for its traditional tourist attractions and fantastic gastronomy but also for its architecture and design. The bleak autumn weather directly encourages the discovery of secrets of Pilsen’s interiors created by the world-famous Adolf Loos. While walking the streets of Pilsen, you can also admire other interesting structures from the last century as well as those completed not too long ago. As November gives way to December, Pilsen Design Week will further diversify the beginning of Advent.
The Loos Interiors
For starters, lovers of interior design will appreciate the extraordinary work of one of the founders of modern architecture, Adolf Loos. Second only to Vienna, Pilsen holds the most completed designs by this world-renowned architect. In the 1930s, he designed dozens of interiors here for local Jewish businessmen. His work isn’t only extraordinary in its quality but also because it’s regularly accessible to the public, unlike Loos’ work in Austria or elsewhere.
Guided tours
Currently, three interiors are open to visitors via two tour routes: The Apartments of the Kraus family and Dr. Vogl and the Brummel House. During the winter, the tours are held only in Czech every Friday and Saturday; foreign visitors, however, will receive a detailed text containing the tour’s information in foreign languages, and the tour guides are happy to answer any additional questions in either English or German. We recommend reserving your tickets beforehand at the website www.adolfloospilsen.cz or by visiting the Tourist Information Centre on Republic Square.
Pilsen’s architecture from the 20th century
At the start of the 20th century, during the time between the two great wars, many buildings and interiors were created in Pilsen that acted as evidence of the gradual transformation of traditional Art Nouveau architecture into modern architecture. In the city, you’ll find early modernist buildings with elements of classicistic and cubist tones and functionalism. Architect Hanuš Zápal is considered the most significant figure of West Bohemian architecture, you’ll run into his work literally on every corner. If you would prefer a more detailed guidebook, use the architectonic manual found on the website https://pam.plzne.cz/. If you’re staying in Pilsen on a weekday, we have a tip for you of a functionalist building of technical authorities, in which you’ll find a paternoster lift in operation during the building’s opening hours (map link). Even the famous YouTube channel Honest Guide invites visitors to take it for a ride in their video guide.
In Pilsen, you’ll also discover modern buildings of the new millennium. The so-called “New Theatre”, which draws your attention at first glance with its curtain-like façade, has become a modern landmark of the wider city centre. When you arrive by train at the main train station, the container structures will catch your eye, as they conceal inside several restaurants as well as the Tourist Information Centre with a lookout tower. Among others, the building of the Faculty of Art and Design, as part of the University of West Bohemia campus, also makes for an architectural feat.
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