Professor Vladimír Šlapeta Explores the History of the Baba Housing Estate in the International Architecture Magazine Piranesi
The international architecture magazine Piranesi will publish an article by Professor Vladimír Šlapeta from the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology on 21 November 2026, focusing on Prague’s functionalist Baba housing estate. The study will appear on the occasion of the annual international architecture conference in Piran, Slovenia.
The article, entitled BABA Prague 1932 – Housing Estate Exhibition of the Czechoslovak Werkbund, explores the origins, development and architectural significance of one of the most important achievements of Czechoslovak interwar modernism. The Baba estate was built between 1932 and 1936 as part of a broader European movement seeking new approaches to modern housing. Its development involved leading Czech architects from several generations, including Pavel Janák, Josef Gočár, Ladislav Žák and Oldřich Starý.
In his study, Professor Šlapeta places the Prague estate within the international context of Werkbund housing exhibitions, whose origins can be traced back to the famous Weissenhof Estate exhibition in Stuttgart in 1927. He also highlights the important role of Brno, where the Nový dům (New House) housing estate was built in 1928, based on an urban plan by Bohuslav Fuchs and Jaroslav Grunt. The experience gained in Brno significantly influenced the subsequent development of the Prague project.
Unlike some earlier European exhibition estates, which primarily presented experimental architectural concepts, the houses at Baba were designed in direct collaboration between architects and individual clients. The estate thus represents a remarkable example of how modernist ideals could be combined with the individual needs of its residents.
The study examines not only the architectural and urban design of the estate, but also the social context of its origins, contemporary debates and subsequent development. It also highlights the estate’s heritage value and the fact that, in 2019, it was awarded the European Heritage Label together with other European Werkbund housing estates.
The article is accompanied by extensive visual material from Professor Šlapeta’s personal archive, including historical photographs, original architectural plans and documentation of selected buildings. It is published in both Czech and English.
The publication in the international architecture magazine Piranesi represents another contribution by Professor Vladimír Šlapeta to the research, understanding and presentation of Czech modern architecture within a broader European context.
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