<p>The activities of the Prague Institute extend beyond the borders of the Czech Republic acting as a coordinating centre for Eastern Europe. It is located in a magnificent four-story art nouveau building on the banks of the Vltava river directly across from the Czech National Theatre. Through its location and elaborate facade, it has a place in one of Prague’s most prominent urban ensembles. The history of the building also requires a particular measure of sensitivity with respect to the design approach as from the 1950s to the 1990s it served as the embassy of the GDR.</p>

<p>Originally constructed for a re-insurance company, the architecture differs in several respects from other typical, turn-of-the-century buildings. On the one hand, there are rooms with a representational function, such as the vestibule, the stairway and former conference rooms, all finished with opulent materials such as effectively combined types of marble and elaborate decorative stucco. On the other hand, there are hierarchically “subordinate” spaces such as the upper hallways and former clerks’ offices, which were constructed far more soberly. During the utilisation as the embassy of the GDR, several of the representative rooms were redesigned in the so-called “socialist classicism” style. In the following decades, technical “retrofitting” such as computer cables laid on top of the walls disrupted the aesthetic appearance substantially.</p>

<p>The restoration of the vestibul and its underlying structure is oriented toward a reproduction of the original state. As clues to the original colour scheme no longer exist, the plaster, ceiling and decorative elements are carried out all in white. The furnishings, from a functional perspective, correspond to the utilisation requirements of the Goethe Institute. The aesthetic composition derives in colour and form from these specifications, as arising from the columns, pilasters and pedestals. The impression conveyed by the furnishings is decisively contemporary. The play of distribution and slight turns between pedestals and the furniture forms in conjunction with the room’s axis conveys a look of somewhat random placement, lending the space a subliminal aspect of temporariness. This, on the other hand, stands in a distinctly humorous tension between the very high-quality finishing of the custom-made furniture.</p>
