The Dukla Museum designed by architect František Jesenko is one of the bold examples of organic modernism in Slovakia. The work combines geometric simplicity with an emotional charge. It is located on the edge of a park, between the town center and the Soviet Army Memorial in the north.
The mass of the object consists of a lower base with cassette cladding and a cantilevered upper mass, which is accessible via an exterior ramp. When viewed from the outside, the building creates the illusion of a circular form, but in fact the upper floor consists of two non-concentric semicircles. With this simple gesture, the author achieved a rather unconventional exhibition space, placing the exposition to the inner perimeter of the curve. The author used the resulting straight facades for the entrance to the museum oriented towards the town and for the glass wall, which allows a view of the monument in the park. The outdoor monument thus almost becomes an indoor exhibited object.
The author of the building was inspired by the jointing of two palms in the floor plan, and he assumed the culmination of the entire exhibition at the junction of the semicircles. In this central part of the layout, the author designed an effective diorama of the Dukla battle and a projection room with a capacity of 40 people. The museum was ceremoniously opened on 4 October 1969 on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Carpathian-Duklian operation. Today, it is part of the Military History Museum based in Piešťany.
author of the description: Monika Bočková
Bibliography:
KOHLMAYER, Václav. Duklianske múzeum vo Svidníku. Projekt 1975, roč. 17, č. 4, s. 16.
KOHLMAYER, Václav. Stavoprojekt Prešov. Projekt 1974, roč. 16, č. 2–3, s. 21–22.
KUSÝ, Martin. Architektúra na Slovensku 1945 – 1975. Bratislava: Pallas, 1976. s. 212.
MALINOVSKÝ, Viktor a kol. Dvadsať rokov investičnej výstavby vo východoslovenskom kraji. Košice: Východoslovenské vydavateľstvo, 1967. s. 403.
KOHLMAYER, Václova: Oblasť pod Duklou. Architektura ČSR 1980, roč. 39, č. 5, s. 210 - 213.
