Building of the Ministry of Industry and Trade / Budova Ministerstva prumyslu a obchodu (Prague)
N 50° 05.586 E 014° 25.546
33U E 458926 N 5549139
Interesting and monumental building of Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade in Prague celebrates in year 2009 75th anniversary from its completion in 1934.
Waymark Code: WM6J68
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/09/2009
Views: 217
The building of Ministry of Industry and Trade belongs among these pre-WW II buildings, which deeply influenced the look of Vltava river riverfront's face in Prague centre.
The construction of the ministry building at Na Františku was started in 1928. According to the original plans, the construction was to be finished in 1931, but the palace was only declared fit for occupation in 1934. The architect of the palace of was Josef Fanta, a prominent Czech architect, who was also a professor of architectural design and history of medieval and old Christian architecture at the Technical University in Prague. The actual construction was contracted to the builder Antonín Belada. On the embankment opposite the Letná hill a very gracious and distinctive construction (within the chosen stylistic conventions) took shape.
The three—storey building is built on a rectangular base ground plan of 107×49 m, with self—supporting walls and stone facades of granite and sandstone. Although these materials were used as economically as possible, it is not a typical facing because the granite and sandstone squares are 25-35 cm thick and are abutted with brick wall. The granite mostly comes from Dolní Mesto, Tanvald and Železná Ruda, and the sandstone from a quarry near the spa town of Lázne Mšené.