The Parliament for Prague – Proposals, Competitions and Debates on its Location and Architecture

Abstract

Prague. The metropolis of the Czech lands and since 1918 also the capital of independent Czechoslovakia. As such, it has often become a place for ambitious architectural and urban visions, which did not always materialize. Since the end of the 19th century, one of the most discussed locations in Prague has been the Letná Plain, and the most closely monitored task was apparently the construction of a new seat of the regional government, later the parliament of the new republic. For a time, the two topics merged in one, resulting in a range of projects created by generations of architects striving to enrich the Prague panorama and create a worthy symbol representing the state, its nation, and political discourse. The paper is going to demonstrate the variety of these projects and try to answer the question of why this architectural Odyssey did not eventually leave any mark on the Letná Plain.