The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia

Recently I read an article in the Slovak Spectator about the Hotel Kyjev, called Jewel of modernist architecture slated for demolition. The hotel, located in Bratislava at Kamenné námestie, may be destroyed along with the Prior (Tesco) department store buildings as part of a development project called “Centre Plaza”. No date has been set for any action.

According to the article, a group of preservationists from the non-profit organization DoCoMoMo International wish to save the building and others like it that may be in danger of being destroyed. Henrietta Moravčíková, head of the local chapter, says buildings like the Hotel Kyjev are part of Slovakia’s history and culture. In the article she is quoted as saying, “Its architecture represents a period of ambitious and innovative thinking, and we have to do something about [the plans to destroy it]. We have to tell the public about the value of this building and others like it.”

Though I agree that buildings like the Hotel Kyjev are part of Slovakia’s history, I disagree that they are part of true Slovak culture. Are the communist principles, good or bad, embodied in socialist-realism architecture a part of Slovak culture simply because Slovaks survived through those 40 years of it?

I’ll go further and say I think it’s ridiculous that people want to preserve a building like the Hotel Kyjev. Preserve the building as a monument to what? A showcase for “ambitious and innovative thinking” in a structure that is no longer valued on its own merit, and instead functions also as a giant billboard?

Though I am somewhat suspicious of new construction projects around Bratislava, I think demolishing the Hotel Kiev and replacing it with something else is a great idea (and I haven’t even seen a rendering of what they want to replace it with). With all the reconstruction projects going on in Bratislava these days it’s probably not a big surprise that investors want to have a go at one of the most high-traffic pedestrian areas in the city. As a matter of fact, the Hotel Kyjev has been on developer’s hit list for years. To me there is no wonder; it’s a dilapidated eyesore.

Certainly a large motivation for development projects in Bratislava is based on profit and money. In the article, the architect of the Hotel Kyjev, Ivan Matušík argues that the pursuit of capitalism “is driving our social values to extinction.” Without doubt a case can be made to support his opinion. However, what “social values” do buildings like the Hotel Kyjev represent? Rigid conformity to communist ideals? Political and religious oppression? It’s true that there is a danger in seeking to erase reminders of the past, but I would rather see the Hotel Kyjev destroyed in the name of capitalism than for it to remain to preserve a monument to Slovakia’s communist past.

The communists were ruthless when it came to tearing down existing buildings or confiscating property to remove unwanted influences and promote their own ideals. Should a building like the Hotel Kiev be spared such a deliberate destruction? I say no. Most people will never know what was standing in the place where the Hotel Kyjev was built in the 1970s. And if the building would be replaced with something else, I don’t think very many would miss what was there previously.

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