Brutálna Bratislava

When demolition of the former Trade Union House – Istropolis began in 2022, it was not the first time that a public building from the socialist era had been demolished in Bratislava.

What was unique was the public interest and discussion that this plan sparked about Bratislava’s „brutalist“ heritage.
Radically modern monuments from the 1960s and 1970s – the inverted pyramid of Slovak Radio, the dynamic silhouette of the SNP Bridge with a space restaurant at the top of the pillar, and the slanted „beams“ bridging the Baroque Water Barracks of the Slovak National Gallery – have become unmistakable symbols of today’s Bratislava. To this day, they are perceived as controversial and provoke heated debates.

Mgr. Peter Szalay PHD. will focus his lecture on brutalism in architecture: what this style means and whether it is even possible to talk about brutalism in Bratislava. He will reveal the stories of the most famous, but also almost forgotten works from this period. The discussion will focus on whether brutalism can be beautiful – and whether it is worth protecting.