The House of Trade Unions, Technology and Culture was an exceptionally valuable representative example of Slovak architectural monumentalism. It was the major work of the trio Ferdinand Konček, Iľja Skoček and Ľubomír Titl, leading architects of post-war modernism in Slovakia.
The House of Trade Unions, Technology and Culture was built on the site of the former Central Market in Bratislava. Despite the fact that the architects won the architectural competition in 1955, it took 25 years to realise the project with several changes. The complex was built in stages. In 1968 a high-rise office building was built, in 1971 the House of Technology, in 1974 the House of Children and Youth and a year later the main public part - the Trade Union House.
The architects concentrated the programme of the trade union house into one block with a triangular plan and the main façade oriented towards a busy crossroad. The monumentality of the articulated facade was emphasised by marble cladding with distinctive black veining. The outdoor public space in front of the Trade Union House was shaped as an elevated stone plateau completed with lighting columns by the sculptor Jozef Vachálek and a flagpole by the architects of the complex.
Behind the façade there was a generous two-storey foyer with impressive oval skylights above the entrance staircase and a ceiling made of wooden cylinders. The foyer served as the entrance to the central congress hall, multi-purpose hall and other public spaces. From both an architectural and technological point of view, the congress hall with its capacity of 1,200 spectators was the most exceptional. Its ceiling consisted of an acoustically shaped lamellar structure designed by the artist Jozef Jankovič. An integral part of the Trade Union House was also an impressive stained glass window by the op-artist Milan Dobeš or the portal of the high-rise building by Alexander Vika. The interior was complemented by furnishings made by leading Slovak designers.
Despite the efforts of professionals and the general public to preserve the building, the demolition of this largest cultural facility in Slovakia began in January 2022 by the company Immocap. The House of Trade Unions, Technology and Culture, known as Istropolis since 1990, had served the public for barely 40 years and was in a good technical condition.
Bibliography:
KUSÝ, Martin: Nad súťažnými návrhmi na výstavbu Domu odborov a techniky v Bratislave. Architektura ČSR 16, 1957, 3, s. 126 – 132.
KUSÝ, Martin: Dom odborov a techniky v Bratislave. Architektura ČSR 19, 1960, 10, s. 685 – 689.
KONČEK, Ferdinand – SKOČEK, Iľja – TITL, Ľubomír – LUKAČOVIČ, Štefan – HUNTIER, Jozef – KAHOUN, Karol: Komplex Domu odborov, techniky a kultúry v Bratislave ukončený novostavbou Domu Revolučného odborového hnutia. Projekt 23, 1981, 7, s. 4 – 21.
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MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta – DLHÁŇOVÁ, Viera: Istropolis, Bratislava. In: Beyond Everydayness. Theatre Architecture in Central Europe. Praha, Národné divadlo 2010, s. 531.
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MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta – SZALAY, Peter: The Trade Union House / Istropolis: The Birth and Liquidation of an Innovative Generator of Social Life, Culture, and Education, Architektúra & urbanizmus LV, 2021, č. 3–4, s. 123–145
MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta – SZALAY, Peter: Dom odborov – Istropolis, Čierne diery, Bratislava 2022
MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta - SZALAY, Peter. Domy kultúry na Slovensku: Vzostup a pád jedného typologického druhu. In Osvěta, kultura, zábava: kultúrní domy v Československu,Michaela Janečková, Irena Lehkoživoá (eds.) 2024, VI PER: Praha, 601 s.
