Cylinders Holding, a company owned by entrepreneur Jan Světlík, opened the VP1 ART building in Dolní Vítkovice in Ostrava yesterday. A hotel with a restaurant has been built on the site of the former medical centre for employees of Klement Gottwald’s former Vítkovice Ironworks. It includes a permanent exhibition of works by photographer Jindřich Štreit, artist Jiří Slíva and painter Helena Salichová. Světlík told ČTK that the reconstruction of the building cost tens of millions of crowns.
“The health centre was turned into an extension of the hotel. The VP1 hotel has just under 170 beds and here another 55 beds including extra beds are being built. Especially accommodation for families with children is being created here, there are apartments, there are studios, there are regular rooms. It’s a little bit focused on art, there are collections of important artists here, so it’s a little bit different than in regular hotels,” said Světlík.
The space was designed by architect Josef Pleskot’s AP Atelier and fits into the overall context of industrial architecture and the national cultural monument in Dolní Vítkovice (DOV). The hotel stands practically directly opposite the former blast furnace number one, which the architect Pleskot turned into today’s Bolt Tower with his first venture in DOV.
The health centre building was built in stages during socialism. “It was rebuilt several times, so it took on the appearance of a disparate socialist building. Josef Pleskot turned the building without a uniform expression into a modern hotel for families with children and a restaurant for at least 60 people,” said Cylinders Holding spokeswoman Eva Kijonková. VP1 ART is connected to the VP1 hotel building and forms a logical whole with it.
Světlík said that the building is actually an amalgamation of two buildings and its reconstruction was extremely difficult. “It was possible to connect the two buildings. But to make it into a functional hotel that has to fulfil some functions and also have a restaurant, because it was missing here, was of course a huge problem. The architect came up with the idea of building a greenhouse,” said Světlík.
There is a retaining wall on one side of the hotel that had to be repaired. “I suppose in a couple of years it will be overgrown with ivy, that beautiful green wall that was there, because that inspired us to think that it was a beautiful sitting area and that it would be great to look out into the green. It was discovered during the renovation that the wall was damaged in a major way, we had to fix it, so the greenery disappeared. But hopefully Mother Nature will sort it out in a few short years,” said Svetlik.
The hotel displays works by prominent artists. “It is necessary to mention the unique collection of 78 original photographs by Jindřich Štreit, who 16 years ago published a book Vítkovice, in which he collected moments in his characteristic way for a year around the Vítkovice workshops, offices and warehouses. The captured moments are not only about work, but also about relationships, emotions and, above all, about the spirit of the industrial part of the engineering district of Vítkovice. The collection of these works by Jindřich Štreit is being exhibited for the first time in its entirety in VP1 ART, where it will be permanently housed,” said Světlík.
The three permanent exhibitions, whose opening was attended by Štreit and Slíva, are complemented by a number of works by other Czech and foreign artists. “Their works will be placed not only in the buildings of the VP1 hotel, but also in the surrounding area and in the outdoor part of the new restaurant,” said Kijonková. The restaurant will open on a trial basis at the end of April.
Source: VP1 ART and CTK
Photo: VP1 ART
