The mayor of Prague, Adriana KrnĆ”ÄovĆ”, has suggested that the role Prague’s conservation organs played in the collapse of a building on MikulandskĆ” Street in Prague be investigated. “It’s necessary to investigate primarily the role of conservationists from the National Conservation Institute that may have forced the designers into non-standard approaches,” she told the daily newspaper Blesk. Two floors of the building collapsed during their reconstruction, seriously injuring three workers. The head of the NPU NadÄžda GoryczkovĆ” said her institute bore no responsibility whatsoever for the accident. But it’s being reported that while the designers had suggested stronger steel and concrete ceiling elements replace the existing ones.
Conservationists as well as the Ministry of Culture claim the NPU does not have the power to block the replacement of a ceiling. But the dean of the University of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM) JindÅich Smetana says that a thumbs down from the NPU can be fatal for a project. “It’s no secret that the NPU, in particular its regional offices have behaved more and more like a ‘hidden executive organ,” said Smetana. UMPRUM was the investor in the case of the building which collapsed, writes Blesk.
