{"id":234508,"date":"2024-07-18T10:52:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T14:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/?post_type=id_project&p=234508"},"modified":"2024-08-06T16:02:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T20:02:08","slug":"atlas-inside-the-national-gallery-prague","status":"publish","type":"id_project","link":"https:\/\/interiordesign.net\/projects\/atlas-inside-the-national-gallery-prague\/","title":{"rendered":"Pique Curiosity At ATLAS Inside The National Gallery Prague"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"a
A low-platform stage serves as a pop-up yoga studio in ATLAS\u2014the acronym for Creative Studio and Laboratory of Associative Dreaming in Czech\u2014a 9,000-square-foot multifunctional public space renovated by No Architects in the National Gallery Prague.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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July 18, 2024<\/p>\n\n\n

Words: <\/span>Peter Webster<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography: <\/span>Studio Flusser<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pique Curiosity At ATLAS Inside The National Gallery Prague<\/h1>\n\n\n

Designed by architects Josef Fuchs and Oldri\u030c ch Tyl and completed in 1928, Prague\u2019s imposing Trade Fair Palace\u2014a sprawling eight-story edifice encompassing more than 258,000 square feet of airy, light-filled exhibition space\u2014 was not only the largest facility of its kind in the world but also an outstanding example of avant-garde functionalism. Even the movement\u2019s best-known practitioner, Le Corbusier, was envious of the reinforced-concrete building\u2019s scale since he was largely confined to smaller, residential projects at the time. (The Swiss architect\u2019s contemporaneous plans for the modernist campus of the Czech shoe company Bata in Zl\u00edn were never fully realized.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After World War II, the palace was converted into an office building, its spacious interior cut up into a dreary warren of smaller business suites, all of which were destroyed in a massive, six-day fire in 1974 that left nothing but the structural frame and landmarked exterior standing. Four years later, the building was given to the National Gallery Prague, a multivenue museum with the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic, as a new home for its modern and contemporary holdings. Reconstruction, which centered on the Small Hall\u2014a superbly proportioned atrium topped with a skylight and encircled by six tiers of exhibition balconies\u2014was slow and completed in stages. The first few floors opened in 1995 to be joined by others over time, the most recent addition being a mezzanine level that stretches the conception of what a public art gallery can be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"yelolw
A low-platform stage serves as a pop-up yoga studio in ATLAS\u2014the acronym for Creative Studio and Laboratory of Associative Dreaming in Czech\u2014a 9,000-square-foot multifunctional public space renovated by No Architects in the National Gallery Prague.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The new 9,000-square-foot multifunctional space, dubbed ATLAS\u2014the acronym for Ateli\u00e9r Tvorby a Laborator\u030c Asociativn\u00edho Sne\u030cn\u00ed, <\/em>which translates to Creative Studio and Laboratory of Associative Dreaming<\/em>\u2014\u201cis basically a big urban living room,\u201d says Jakub Filip Nov\u00e1k, co-executive with Daniela Bar\u00e1ck\u030c ov\u00e1 of No Architects<\/a>, the local firm that helmed the renovation. Comprising an enfilade of loosely defined zones, ATLAS encompasses a caf\u00e9, a low-platform stage flanked by benches and bleachers, a reading nook with shelves of library books, a row of workstations, an elevated mini playground, and a series of flexible workshop spaces. \u201cYou can be at home here and sit back in a \u2018cultured\u2019 way,\u201d Nov\u00e1k continues, enumerating several possible activities: \u201cStretch out lazily on a couch, read or look out the window, practice a musical instrument, work on your laptop, play, chat with other visitors, have a cup of coffee, and, last but not least, enjoy art you are allowed to touch with impunity if you feel the need.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That last, groundbreaking idea\u2014experiencing art without the traditional museum barriers\u2014is central to the ATLAS concept. \u201cIn the NGP, of course, every piece is insured, guarded, and accessible only through a ticket paywall\u2014a sort of symbolic permit that binds your behavior,\u201d notes Bar\u00e1ck\u030c ov\u00e1, who met Nov\u00e1k when they were students at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. \u201cHow do you get rid of such control?\u201d ATLAS, which is dotted with works and installations by leading Czech talents, solves the problem through subversion: There is no entry fee and, although there is a commissioning program, officially there is no art. Artists contributing any kind of work to the space agree to drop the \u201cart\u201d categorization, \u201cso their pieces become just \u2018property,\u2019 which can go uninsured and unattended,\u201d explains Bar\u00e1ck\u030c ov\u00e1. There are no eagle-eyed curators making sure visitors don\u2019t get too close to the aesthetic interventions, many of which, in fact, encourage the public\u2019s direct participation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Furnished with easily moved custom tables and seating blocks, the creative space hosts LEGO and art-making workshops for kids.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Due to a severely limited budget (\u201cabout the same as you\u2019d spend on a quality kitchen for a two-bedroom flat,\u201d Nov\u00e1k quips), No Architects\u2019s makeover was largely a matter of stripping the mezzanine down to its fine bones; removing partitions, panels, and other later additions that cluttered the space; uncovering windows so that natural light flows in once again; and restoring the terrazzo flooring, smooth plaster walls, and steel-frame fenestration back to their original glory. \u201cWe made full use of the most expensive thing we had: the 1928 architecture,\u201d Nov\u00e1k says. That included recycling almost all the demolished materials, supplemented by salvage from old exhibition installations stored in the museum\u2019s basement, which were used to construct the minimalist built-in furnishings\u2014the low stage, the curving caf\u00e9 counter, the workstations, and a variety of platforms for sitting, lounging, and playing on\u2014simple geometric forms painted in brilliant, primary colors that give the facility a jaunty, Rietveldian feel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ATLAS has proved wildly successful. \u201cIn the Czech Republic, you can receive state support to stay home with your children until they\u2019re 4 years old,\u201d reports Bar\u00e1ck\u030c ov\u00e1. \u201cPrague is full of young mothers and fathers who need inexpensive places to take their kids.\u201d Elements such as the elevated playground are designed to attract youngsters, so that they look forward to accompanying their parents to the museum and also get a chance to expend some rough-and-tumble energy\u2014 not something most art institutions look kindly on. While there are workshops for art making, LEGO modeling, and other creative activities, visitors are free to use the facilities as they wish, as long as they clean up after themselves. As its name suggests, ATLAS maps a specific territory where anyone can create, dream, be poetical, or explore whatever else touches their imagination. \u201cThe space reflects the visitors who use it, for better or worse,\u201d Nov\u00e1k concludes. \u201cAfter all, it\u2019s still a lab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visit ATLAS Inside The National Gallery Prague<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"soaring
ATLAS occupies the entire mezzanine floor in the Small Hall, a soaring atrium space topped by a skylight and encircled with six tiers of open galleries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"large
Breasts, Children, Beings, and Debris<\/em>, a handwoven tapestry made of fabric scraps by Barbora Fastrov\u00e1 and Johana Po\u0161ov\u00e1, hangs in the caf\u00e9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"cafe
Michael Thonet bentwood chairs pull up to custom recycled-MDF tables in the caf\u00e9.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"playground
A raised platform, outfitted with washable fabric\u2013covered padded mats, turns one corner into a playground.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"seating
Custom bleachers and benches in recycled MDF provide seating for lectures, performances, or video presentations on the low platform<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"built
A built-in partition transforms the playground window into a child-friendly circular nook overlooking neighboring historical facades.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"cafe
Flooring in the caf\u00e9 and throughout is the original terrazzo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"interactive
Invisible Collection<\/em>, an interactive installation by Eva Kot\u2019\u00e1tkov\u00e1, allows visitors to curate personal art constellations with miniature replicas of works from the NGP\u2019s holdings.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"built-in
Echoing the curved counter at the other end of the caf\u00e9, built-in bleachers offer window seating and a close-up view of The Crocheted Tent<\/em>, a collaborative work by artist Marie Tuc\u02c7kov\u00e1 and Elpida, an organization for senior citizens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"gallery
Gallery goers are encouraged to don glued-paper flower masks from sculptor Anna Hulac\u02c7ov\u00e1\u2019s Let\u2019s Talk About Pollination<\/em>, a multipart piece intended to stimulate real and imaginary conversation.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"reading
Stocked with public library books, the reading space offers a cushioned platform on which to relax amidst artist Kristina Fingerland\u2019s pillowlike textile forms.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
PROJECT TEAM<\/h6><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NO ARCHITECTS:<\/strong> KRIST\u00ddNA PLISCHKOV\u00c1. NATIONAL GALLERY PRAGUE CURATORIAL TEAM<\/strong>: BARBORA KLEINHAMPLOV\u00c1; EVA SKOPALOV\u00c1; OLDR\u02c7ICH BYSTR\u02c7ICK\u00dd. ANE\u017dKA MINAR\u02c7\u00cdKOV\u00c1; MAREK NEDELKA: <\/strong>GRAPHIC DESIGN. MICHAL \u0160TOCHL: <\/strong>PRODUCTION COORDINATOR. JIR\u02c7\u00cd LEUBNER; TOM\u00c1\u0160 VEBER: <\/strong>CONSTRUCTION TEAM. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n