The tower houses of Kladno-Rozdělov, built at the end of the fifties of the last century, were ahead of their times: they had rooms with built-in heating on the roof, a recreational roof terrace with shower, their own incinerator, social rooms, and until that time, There was an anti-nuclear shelter with an underground escape corridor. Its unique architecture reminds us of the Kladno Tower Museum. Come take a look.
The Kladno Tower Museum had a bit of bad luck when it started. The gallery, which allows visitors to visit the museum in the basement, the anti-nuclear shelter, a sample apartment and a rooftop terrace, opened in early 2020. At a time when the coronavirus pandemic and related lockdowns and museum closures came. Operations could not be properly started until this year, and there has been a lot of interest in the touring lately.
The nearly fifty-meter-high towers of the Rozdělové towers were designed by architects Josef Havlicek, Karel Vilsak and Karel Bubenik. Their project was inspired by the modern buildings of the Frenchman Auguste Perret and tried to distinguish himself from the socialist realism prevailing at the time. The buildings consist of sixteen floors (two basement and ground and thirteen residential floors). Their concept completely deviates from the normal production of building at the time, which is why they are registered as a cultural monument.
Construction of the neoclassical buildings began in March 1953. The first house was completed before Christmas 1956, and the last was a year later. The first, third and fifth towers were inhabited by people who worked in the Kladno mines, and the second, fourth and sixth belonged to metallurgists.
Due to the fact that it was the end of the 1950s, living in the Rozdelów towers was incredibly modern – there were representative social spaces on the ground floor. “The entrance hall also formed the backdrop for the ongoing housekeeping service, which operated in váky until the mid-1960s. Until then, váky was essentially a type of hotel operation—the service staff performed the role of reception, checked visitors’ entry into homes and were available to tenants.” The brochure presents towers and apartment buildings in Kladen, the authors of which are Roman Hajek and Aleksander Numyk.
The apartments had ceiling heating and fitted wardrobes that were above standard for their time. The architects also succeeded in separating the representative parts of the apartment (such as the hall and the living room) from the private parts (the bathroom and the bedroom). The separation between them is the kitchen and dressing room.
The house had a well-thought-out waste system (there was a litter box on each floor, garbage was taken by a freight elevator to the incinerator in the basement), the residents had at their disposal washer and dryers, as well as balconies for drying clothes. There was also a sunny roof terrace for recreation, equipped with a shower. There was a wide cover for civil defense with a filter for ventilation under the floor. If the entrance to the shelter is buried, an underground passage exits from it, opening about fifteen meters from the house.
About the Kladno Tower Museum
Kladno Tower Museum It was opened by the legal city of Kladno with the Halda Association at the beginning of 2020. Tours take place on weekends, and you need to book them in advance. A visit for groups of 8-12 people can be arranged in advance on a different date. More information on the museum’s website: www.muzeumvezaku.cz
