This month is the 120th birthday of one of the most beautiful Prague
concert halls - the Rudolfinum. But the building, down by the river in
Prague's Old Town, and now home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, is
not only a concert hall. There is also an art-gallery, a smaller concert
hall, a café and even a recording studio. I asked the architectural
historian Zdenek Lukes how this famous Prague landmark came to be built.

Rudolfinum
"It was a bank - Ceska Sporitelna who financed the project .The
architects were two very important architects from Prague, Josef Zitek and
Josef Sulc, both of them were professors of Prague Technical University and
former students of a famous school of architecture - the Academy of Arts in
Vienna. Both of them were also responsible for many important buildings in
Prague like the National Theatre. They worked together. Sulc was
responsible for the National Museum on Wenceslas Square and for the Museum
of Applied Arts which is very near the Rudolfinum."

So how was the actual building designed? What was its original purpose?

Rudolfinum"There was a competition in the beginning and two winners Zitek and
Sulc designed this beautiful building in neo-renaissance style. I think
the wish of investor was to create a house for artists named after Rudolf,
the eldest son of Emperor Franz Josef I. One part of the building is the
famous Dvorak Hall, now housing Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and the rear
part of the building is used as a gallery for art exhibitions, and called
the Rudolfinum Gallery. The building was decorated by artists of the
so-called 'National Theatre generation', like Zenisek, Schnirch and
others. The entrance is lavishly decorated, and there are figures of
famous European composers on the roof."

You have already said that the building was designed mainly as a concert
hall - that is also its purpose today. But has it always been the same?
Has it been used as a concert hall for all the time?

Rudolfinum - the Dvorak Hall"This is very interesting. Just after establishing the independent
Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, there was a decision of the state to
rebuild Rudolfinum for a new function - as a main building of Czech
Parliament. It was said that Rudolfinum is one of the best examples of
architecture in Prague, suitable for this important function. 15 - 20
years later it was decided to turn the Rudolfinum back into a cultural
centre - the Dvorak Hall, the concert chambers like the organ hall, and of
course, exhibition spaces were renovated."

If you'd like to see the building, you can of course go to see one of the
concerts there or visit the gallery. But the Rudolfinum management is also
preparing some events to celebrate the anniversary in the autumn. As part
of this, there will also be guided tours in different languages.