Preparations for the World Ski Championships in the High Tatras, which took place in 1970, included mainly the development of the ski complex and the necessary accommodation facilities. The design of a series of hotels in the challenging Tatra environment was entrusted to the State Project Institute of Trade in Brno. Czech architect Zdeněk Řihák created two of his key projects, the Patria Hotel and the Panorama Hotel, at the foot of the Štrbské Pleso moraine. Both buildings were criticised at the time of their construction for disturbing the landscape of the protected area. Today they are perceived as significant objects of post-war modernism, through which the architect undoubtedly reflected the international discussion of the time.
Hotel Panorama is a distinctly sculptural work and it dominates the surrounding space with its richly divided mass. The building consists of two parts. The social and operating part is located in a horizontal base set in a sloping terrain. On the contrary, the accommodation part with a capacity of 160 beds forms a plastic vertical element. The concept of 12 irregularly cantilevered pyramidal floors creates a variety of hotel rooms. The form is reminiscent of the visions of Japanese metabolists from the 60s and creates a distinctive landscape monument. Structurally it consists of a steel skeleton with gas silicate blocks. The facade was originally made of wooden cladding in combination with special sprayed plaster. Unfortunately, the original interior works of art, including wooden sculptures by Vladimír Kompánek and a massive relief in the hotel lobby by Rudolf Uher, have not been preserved.
author of the description: Monika Bočková
Bibliography:
HRUŠKA, Emanuel: Výstavba Štrbského Plesa - Dějiště FIS. Architektura ČSR 1970, roč. 29, č. 7, s. 266-275.
SIROTEK, Jaromír: Nové hotely. Architektura ČSR 1969, roč. 28, č. 1, s. 29-36.
ŘIHÁK, Zdeněk: Hotel Panorama — Štrbské pleso. Projekt 1970, roč. 12, č.5—6, s. 228—229.
BAHNA, Ján: Čo nám navrhli českí architekti v oblasti občianskej výstavby. Projekt 1980, roč. 22, č. 8, s. 26—28.
KOS, Lukáš: Zdeněk Řihák´s Hotel Building and the State Project Institute of Trade Brno. Architektúra & urbanizmus 2021, roč. 55, č. 1—2, s. 46—59.
