Richard Biegel: The Prague Suburbs

Being formerly on the periphery, they have turned into desirable locations of the wider centre of Prague. The neighbourhoods built in the 19th and 20th century used to form the boundaries between the city and the country, but they have undergone rather dramatic developments since then. Initially, many stood against the apartment development on the place of the picturesque landscape; however, this refusal was gradually transmuted into attempts to find the distinctive character of these parts of the city. This is also why people started to pay attention to the peripheries in the second half of the 20th century and why they were, in many cases, taken under monument protection. For the past 20 years, most of these districts have undergone stormy development wiping out many of the qualities that seemed to be their very essence. What of the typical periphery have actually remained? What is the status of these districts and places today? And what is their value? Richard Biegel's lecture will present Karlín along with other Prague suburbs.

Richard Biegel is an art historian, Vice-Chairman of the organisation Klub Za starou Prahu (Club for Old Prague) and since 2014 head of the Institute of Art History at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. He is the author of the book “Mezi barokem a klasicismem: Proměny architektury v Čechách a v Evropě druhé poloviny 18. století” (Karolinum, Prague 2012) and co-author of the book “Barokní architektura v Čechách” (Karolinum, Prague 2015).

The lecture is a part of the programme of the project The Snake Pub.