Dozens of Buildings Open to Public for Open House Prague

Dozens of buildings, from historical sights to state-of-the art office spaces, open to the public on Saturday within the seventh edition of the Open House Prague festival.

With the motto of the festival being “Architecture for everyone”, tours of the buildings are available for anyone from the general public, including people with visual and hearing disabilities.

“Although we were optimistic at the beginning of the year, the current state of the pandemic has once again forced us to reevaluate all festival preparations. The concept of the festival is based on a direct architectural experience, and we do not want to deprive our visitors of that,” says Andrea Šenkyříková, festival director.

“We have considered a few different dates and possibilities on our part as well as on the part of our important partners, and we would like the festival to take place in its standard form, observing all the government-imposed measures, of course, because the safety and health of everybody is our number one priority,” she adds.

As the visuals for this year suggest, showing a drawing by the recognized illustrator Jan Šrámek, one of the biggest attractions of the 7^th Open House Prague is ARA Palace. Located on Perlová Street and built in the 1930s, the imposing functionalist palace and former department store is still remembered by many under its original name Perla. 

Since 2021 marks the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Jan Kotěra, founder of modern Czech architecture, the organizers will commemorate this important architect by opening many of his significant realizations, including Trmal Villa in Strašnice, Laichter House in Vinohrady, or Vršovice Water Tower in Michle. 

Open House Prague is part of Open House Worldwide, an international network of festivals which take place in more than 45 cities around the world. The recruit of volunteers for this year has already started, and those who are interested in volunteering can sign up via this link.

About Open House Prague

Open House Praha, z. ú. is a non-profit, non-state organization which organizes a festival of the same name on one weekend in May with a week-long accompanying program.

The concept of the festival was born in London in 1992 under the leadership of Victoria Thornton, who holds the Order of the British Empire. After the organization acquired a license to hold Open House Prague, the festival took place in the Czech Republic for the first time in 2015 and has since become one of the most important cultural events in Prague.

Open House Prague is a proud member of Open House Worldwide, an international network which joins together more than 45 cities on 5 different continents.

Aside from holding the festival, the organization also focuses on various activities throughout the year (for volunteers, partners, the Architecture Lovers Club, the public), including educational programs for children, young adults, or people with disabilities.