The House of Culture of the East Slovak Ironworks (today Jumbo) on the northern outskirts of the historical centre of Košice was built as the All-Union Club and the organisational building of the Regional Trade Union Council. The construction was financed by the Revolutionary Trade Union Movement and its purpose placed the house among other trade union houses built throughout Czechoslovakia. The location chosen for the building was at the intersection of Mlynský náhon and Masaryk (Marx) Street.
The architectural solution by architect Miloš Chorvát won the competition of 24 proposals. He designed a relatively low and compact mass, with a silhouette that is complemented by a protruding rope tower. The layout is based on the principle of overlapping lounge spaces and the perpendicular positioning of the stage hall to the theatre hall. This solution has made it possible to concentrate the accessories of the stage and its operation in one centre with the possibility of variable use of the capacity of the dressing rooms. The theatre hall with a capacity of 695 people was designed with a sloping floor, the stage hall with a capacity of 865 people has a flat floor. The entrance of the stage hall is decorated with a mosaic by Herta Ondrušová-Victorinová. The core of the layout is illuminated by a glazed atrium, and a smaller hall protrudes from the compact mass on the eastern side.
With its lightness and transparency, the building perfectly encapsulates the atmosphere of the post-war international style. The architectural form of the building is legibly acknowledged by the structural system of columns with a circular cross-section. Three quarters of the façade is a suspended glass cladding. At the same time, the timeless façade reveals the internal layout of the space by alternating solid and glazed walls, with the large glazing serving to illuminate the generous gathering spaces. In this way, the front of the building is distinguished from the rear, which was designed for smaller club and administrative spaces
Bibliography:
Štefan Imrich, K súťaži na Všeodborový klub a organizačnú budovu KOR v Košiciach, Projekt I, 1959,
CHORVÁT, Miloš: Všeodborový klub a organizačná budova KOR Košice, Projekt 5, 1963, 1, s. 8 - 9.
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.
