Hotel Kyjev, Your Days Are Numbered
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.
5 Comments on “Hotel Kyjev, Your Days Are Numbered”
I'm not going to cry, if this building disappears from the face of the earth. While I was hesitant when it came to Novy Most, I would certainly help to demolish Hotel Kyjev ;-).
May 2nd, 2008 at 01:12 AM
Besides being an eyesore, the Kyjev is a real dump of a place on the inside as well. Calling it a cultural artifact seems ludicrous. Let the market rule.
June 17th, 2008 at 09:52 AM
The Kyjev was the first hotel I stayed in in Slovakia. It is obvious in the reception, bar and dining room areas that the hotel was once a very grand building inside. The impression one gets however is nothing to do with the Slovak people or their culture, it is merely a trophy on the wall of communism and that along with the hotel itself does not deserve to be preserved.
June 29th, 2008 at 10:11 AM
I am never coming back to this very bad hotel and I don't recommend it to no one, staying in park is better than this hotel!!!
September 14th, 2008 at 07:23 PM
Hotel Kyjev is an architectural monument. I suggest you look at the photo set at http://www.eastmodern.com/ky01.html - I think some of the shots do reveal there is beauty to the building. There are impressive banquet rooms and a lot of beautiful interior design details. Presently, I find Kyjev an eyesore because of the large ad on the facade facing the Old Town. But the ad is there and the building is deteriorating for the very reason it is not considered part of the heritage. If it was there to stay, investors would simply work with the building rather than calculate how the land can be used to build faceless office block non-architecture. The Kyjev still operates as a hotel. The staff work very hard under adverse circumstances - since they have been expecting the hotel to close down any day, there has been no investment in maintenance over the past several years. Nonetheless the hotel with its original 1970s furnishings and ambiance provides a glimpse into the era. The key to looking at the Kyjev as a monument is understanding that the Communist era is a part of Slovak history. Just because there was a one party system does not mean there was no creativity - people lived their lives and worked, had fun. Neither was the aesthetics of the era imposed externally. Whether we like or not the era is a part of Slovak culture in as much as other aspects of Slovak culture evolved under other totalitarian regimes (Austro-Hungarian Empire, War-Time Slovak State). There were generations of architects who have created unique works reflective of the era (same is true for other artists). Matusik was a young architect whose design has many innovative and daring features and the Hotel Kyjev building is, in my view, actually beautiful. We can not summarily dismiss everything created in this period based on who was in government.
September 15th, 2008 at 09:20 AM