Zdeněk Kuna, Olivier Honke-Houfek, Zdeněk Stupka, Milan Valenta, Jaroslav Zdražil
1974 - 1977
Na Strži 63, Praha 4
Foto: Daniela Šrámková
Text: Veronika Vicherková, Pavlína Karbanová Krásná
Překlad: Petr Danda
When in 1973 the Nusle Bridge was commissioned and the operation of the Metro’s Line C started, it opened up opportunities to populate the Pankrác Plain. The PZO Motokov Building had been designed in only six weeks and built within three years. Architects Honke-Houfek, Stupka, Valenta and Zdražil, led by Zdeněk Kuna, used the classic layout of combining a vertical office tower and a horizontal base comprising public facilities. While the tower impresses with in its lapidary volume, the base, triumphantly accessible through a suspended ramp, is composed out of a dramatic volume gradation. The 104 meter high Motokov became the first skyscraper on the Pankrác Plain and even surpassed the height of the bell tower of St. Vitus Cathedral. For quarter a century it became the tallest building in Prague. The elegant creamy interiors were put in contrast to the orange coloured elements filling them, and were designed by Bohumil Rychling and Jiří Lavička. After 2000, Motokov’s facades were carefully refurbished, however, in 2007 its public building was demolished and a new conference center (designed by Aulický and Herold) was built in its place.