In the 1980s, the company Drôtovňa Hlohovec organized an internal architectural competition for a new cultural venue to be located in the historic center of the town, on the site of demolished buildings. The competition was won by a distinctive proposal by architect Pavol Bakonyi, sensitively and contextually integrated into its surroundings.
Despite its considerable size, the compact three-storey volume is successfully embedded in the urban fabric. This is achieved through partial embedding into the gently sloping terrain, as well as through a system of exposed-concrete retaining walls, ramps, and exterior staircases. The building’s ground level is defined by brown ceramic cladding and a series of large glazed surfaces, including the main entrance. Above it rises a closed two-storey mass clad in aluminum panels. The visual tension created by this composition is further emphasized by a wooden slatted soffit positioned beneath the cantilevered projections.
The open interior layout contrasts with the building’s closed envelope. Within a regular orthogonal structural frame, a double-height main hall with a circular plan—containing both stage and auditorium—is located at the center of the building. Ceramic material dominates the interior finishes, appearing on floors as well as wall surfaces in the principal social spaces. This materiality directly corresponds with the artistic concept developed for the building by the prominent Hlohovec-born ceramicist and sculptor Jozef Sušienka. The foyer was originally dominated by ceramic partition walls of organic form, designed in collaboration with sculptor Miloš Balgavý Sr. The restaurant space features an original vertical ceramic fountain with a fish-scale motif.
Additional ceramic artworks are installed in the immediate surroundings of the cultural center. A sculptural group of brown ceramic “chimneys” conceals ventilation outlets, while near the entrance to the technical facilities at the rear of the building stands a damaged ceramic wall made of Poštorná tiles with spherical ceramic elements. Several works by Jozef Sušienka were loaned in 2024 to the retrospective exhibition Jozef Sušienka: A Lesson in Landscape at the Slovak National Gallery.
The cultural center served its original function until 2015. After a decade of neglect and deterioration, it has recently returned to the attention of the city administration, which is now seeking its restoration.
Bibliography:
BELOHRADSKÁ, Ľubica – HUSTÁ, Ľubica – KLEINOVÁ, Viera – KUSÁ, Alexandra: Jozef Sušienka. Lekcia krajiny. Bratislava: Slovenská národná galéria, 2024, s. 75 – 78. ISBN 978-80-8059-272-1.
ŠABÍKOVÁ, Eva – ŽEMBEROVÁ, Renáta: Pamiatková zóna Hlohovec a pamiatková zóna Skalica. In: Monumentorum tutela / Ochrana pamiatok 20, 2009, 20, s. 305.
