In the competition, initially for a major national department store, a number of leading architects submitted designs, among them Alois Balán and Jiří Grossmann, or A. M. Černý. Running across the trapezoidal form of the plot, the winner, František Krupka, designed a symmetrical object with a rectangular structural and dispositional scheme. In particular, the chief points of emphasis are the half-cylindrical entrance court placed atop massive pillars on the staircase plinth and the centrally placed great hall covered with a glass barrel-vault. In both the massing and the ornament, the author drew upon his experience in Vienna with major public architecture (having participated in the atelier of F. Ohmann on the adaptation of the Hofburg). In 1934, the government decided to adapt the building for the use of Comenius University; other changes were made in 1974, when an addition was made to the rear from a design by Vladimír Karfík. The last major changes to the interior came in the early 1990s (J. Bahna, F. Starý and I. Palčo): these involved a new separation of functions in the great hall – creating on the lower floor a formal hall for the administration, and above it a lecture hall of amphitheatre form with 240 seats.
Bibliography:
Stavba 4, 1925 – 1926, s. 10 – 18 a 49 – 50.
Novostavba slovenskej univerzity v Bratislave. Slovenský staviteľ 6, 1936, s. 229 – 232.
DOUŠA, J.: Pripomienky k novostavbe právnickej a filozofickej fakulty Komenského univerzity v Bratislave. Slovenský staviteľ 6, 1936, s. 247 – 248.
FOLTYN, Ladislav: Slovenská architektúra a česká avantgarda 1918 - 1939. Bratislava, SAS 1993. 238 s., tu s. 70 – 71.
Rekonštrukcia amfiteátra a interiérov v objekte Univerzity Komenského v Bratislave. Projekt 39, 1997, 3, s. 21 – 23.
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002. 512 s.
