A lot of the buildings I was drawn to this time around I would have brushed off as insignificant, or just plain bad ten years ago... (perhaps I am just not as sharp as I used to be...). I wouldn’t even have considered them if browsing through the different architects’ work. Plecnik is probably the best example. When I see his stuff in books, I think he is kind of like a gaudy post modernist and his work kind of looks that way. Peter Bohlin once referred to him as the first post modernist... not in a negative way, but in his use of abstracted classical forms. He was a Slovenian who enjoyed some high-profile commissions in Prague. I found the work he did at the Prague Castle, the interventions to the castle grounds, are just so nice and appropriate and timeless. Plecnik was assigned as the chief architect to renovate the castle grounds, providing updates that included renovations of numerous gardens and courtyards, the design and installation of monuments and sculptures, and the design of numerous new interior spaces. The ‘Bull Stair’ gets a lot of press, and rightly so. It is simple and powerful... but I really enjoyed the chameleon like plaza/ stair/ entry he did at the southwest gate. From the outside you will walk right by and not even notice it is there, but it is a very graceful solution to move people from the lower interior gardens up to the exterior plaza.

Marek made some more time for me on the 20th, and after a visit to the DOX contemporary art gallery, we scooted across town to Vinohrady to see the Plecnik church and then the Gochar church, designed and built in the functionalist style. The Plecnik church was something else... again, kind of strange and elementary, using basic geometric and classical shapes... it felt almost pagan in a way, and I'm not surprised that the congregation was rather upset by it... but he did something there that I really enjoyed. The clock tower is a thin rectangle, extending up about twice the height of the body of the church itself. He pierced this rectangular volume with a round void... it is really amazing. the massive clock, in all glass, occupies the void. It is such a playful and imaginative space and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to occupy it. Thanks to Marek for sweet-talking the ornery nun into letting us in...

It am eternally grateful to Marek for taking the time to show me around. Beyond all of the architecture, he introduced me to an insiders life in Prague. We visited the office of Matin Rajnis, where Marek used to work. Martin is a really interesting guy who was in the former Czechaslovakia through the Bolshievik regime, working in the mountains with a collective of talented young Czech architects... some who stayed like Martin, and some who fled to practice where they could have more creative freedom. If you have some time, here is a nice video about Martin and his work. I especially like where he talks about the craft of drawing:

http://vimeo.com/6830401.

We visited the uber-hipster Meet Factory, a bar/ club/ lounge/ gallery founded by Prague’s resident artist, trouble maker and Andy Warhol wannabee, David Cerny. This is the place where Prague's most fashionable young artists go to pull on pivo, smoke their cigarettes and look at the world with contempt. It was awesome...

On my last day we went to a couple of great bars in the Vrsovice neighborhood. The Cafe Slavia near the Charles Bridge used to be the go to place for the city's thinkers, artists, writers and philosophers. As the center of town has become more commercialized, and these artists have gotten older, the new generation of creative types have pushed outward to younger neighborhoods like Vrsovice. We enjoyed some beers at Cafe v Lesse and Cafe Slovdosky (i think???) before I headed home for what I thought would be my last night.... little did I know what the future held... little did I know I’d be wandering the dark and damp Prague streets for the rest of the night.