Commercial and apartment building of Jaroslav Kostka and Karel Mastný
1930–1931

The dominant position in the last block of the eastern part of Americká Avenue is occupied by a monumental commercial and apartment “double house” on the corner, designed and built in 1930-1931 by Jaroslav Kostka and Karel Mastný. Although the Pilsen contractors separated the unusually large plot of land into two sites, the facades of the two houses were combined according to the concept plan, forming a harmonious unit. Thus it is not obvious at first sight that there are two separate buildings.

The five-storey, flat-roofed Functionalist corner house (descriptive number 1230) is dominated by a protruding corner tower, which symmetrically corresponds with architect Bohumil Chvojka’s building opposite, together with which it formed the mouth of the newly created Pařížská Street in the 1930s. The rounded corner and balanced combination of two-tone renders and pointed brickwork gave the new building exceptional lightness and elegance. The smooth facade facing Americká Avenue is enhanced only by a three-storey high projecting section with a pair of large combined windows on each floor. The second street facade, in which the main entrance is situated, was similarly divided by a pair of projecting sections with open balconies in the intervening space.

The builders reserved the entire ground floor of the building and its display windows for commercial purposes. In the basement they situated the tenants' cellars and storage spaces for the individual shops. Each of the upper floors, with the exception of the loft, housed three spacious two-room flats, each with a kitchen, hygienic facilities and a maid’s room. The loft held a one-room flat as well as a laundry room and attic space. In subsequent years, another two quality five-storey Functionalist houses were erected next to it in Pařížská Street (descriptive numbers 1695 and 1710).

The second part of Kostka and Mastný’s new double building (no. 1249) was erected on a narrow site next to the general practitioner Dr. Rudolf Wild’s apartment house. The facade of the five-storey, flat-roofed house with a three-storey high projecting section was a mirror image of house No. 1230 and had two shops on the ground floor. The upper floors had above-standard three-room flats with complete facilities, and the loft housed a laundry room and small concierge's flat.

Kostka and Mastný’s corner “double house” has been preserved without any significant disruptive interventions. With its quality and architectural concept, it undoubtedly stands out from the surrounding development even today.

AK

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