The monumental new building glowing white on the banks of the River Bečva still creates a remarkable impression and retains its high aesthetic quality. The horizontal reinforced concrete structure was designed into a space with a strong urban sensibility. Each of the wings has a different purpose, which the architects projected on the outside. Despite the fact that three architects were involved in its construction and it is significantly structured with cubic masses, as a whole, the Sokolovna, in the spirit of functionalism, is harmonious with its clean design and white façade without unnecessary decoration.
The Přerov Sokol Union, one of the oldest of all, was founded in 1871 and built its first Sokol hall in 1896–1897. Soon, however, the old Sokolovna ceased to suit the large membership base (1,490 members), and so the committee of the union decided to build a new one on the opposite right bank of the River Bečva, in front of the stadium. The site was extended by the demolition of an old school and the Na špici pub. In 1926 the Sokol Union announced a public competition, and out of 47 designs the first prize was awarded in 1927 to the Prague architect Karel Caivas, who designed the building in the spirit of Dutch Neo-Plasticism.
Because of the limited financial resources of the union (they set a limit of 2 million), Caivas revised the plans twice at their request. The design of the Sokolovna was further modified by the local architects and builders Vlastislav Chroust and Stanislav Andrlík, themselves active members of the local Sokol. They retained the core of the project, but stripped it more consistently of superfluous decoration and costly structures, bringing the original constructivist solution even closer to pure functionalism. Construction work on the Sokolovna commenced in 1935 and it opened to the public on 13 September 1936.
The three-storey east wing, parallel to the Bečva embankment, honours Caivasʼ original variant of segmented cubic masses with many window openings of various sizes and shapes. The west wing, including the connecting neck, already bears the handwriting of Chroust and Andrlík with the functionalist principles that were adopted. This five-storey part rests on an irregular plan that follows the turn of the road leading from the Tyrš Bridge in a gradual curve. The first floor of the curved western part receives light from a continuous strip window.
The differences in the appearance of the two parts reflect their functions. In the west wing, on the right, the basement housed a lecture hall and puppet theatre hall with a vestibule, along with locker rooms and storage areas, while on the ground floor, behind the main vestibule, the architects placed the gymnasium itself, running over two floors with rooms for equipment and a small auditorium. On the first floor, in addition to the space of the gym, there is a gallery for spectators, terraces, an auditorium, and a meeting room. In the east wing, on the left, there was a cellar floor with a boiler room, while in the basement there was a restaurant and its operating section, as well as a lounge. The restaurant continued on the ground floor, and at the same time the authors designed administrative rooms. Additional offices and an archive were also located on the first floor. together with the restaurant terrace, and the mass of the building was increased by an attic with dormitories in part of the connecting neck.
The Sokolovna building still retains its original character. It continues to serve the physical education of todayʼs Přerov Sokol, as well as being used for cultural purposes and possessing a puppet theatre and a restaurant. In 2001, the building was declared an immovable cultural monument and subsequently underwent a sensitive reconstruction under the supervision of the conservation authority. Repairs to the façades were made necessary by the extensive damage caused by the 1997 floods, during which water came up to 1 m above the level of the changing rooms. Aluminium windows were replaced in part of the building and their renovation was also carried out, which restored the original colour and appearance of the Sokolovna. The monumental white façade, with its numerous window openings, remains the pride of interwar Přerov.
TH (translation by SG)
Selected literature
Martina Mertová, Proměny Přerova mezi dvěma světovými válkami aneb Jak si vedli domácí a jak hosté v napínavém architektonickém zápasu, in: Jan Janák – Jan Jeništa – Klára Jeništová et al., Kapitoly z výtvarné kultury města Přerova: Architektura, výtvarné realizace, design, Přerov 2016, pp. 8–23.
Jan Pavlíček, Budovali jsme finanční základy nové sokolovny, in: Památník pětasedmdesátého výročí tělocvičné jednoty Sokol Přerov 1871–1946, Přerov 1946, pp. 75–77.
Stanislav Andrlík, Vzpomínka na stavbu sokolovny, in: Památník pětasedmdesátého výročí tělocvičné jednoty Sokol Přerov 1871–1946, Přerov 1946 pp. 77–78.
Jak bude vypadat nová přerovská sokolovna, Haná XXI, 1930, č. 21, 26. 1., pp. 4–5.
Sokol Přerov připravuje stavbu nové sokolovny, Haná XXI, 1930, č. 15, 19. 1., p. 4.
Sources
Nová sokolovna - Památkový Katalog (pamatkovykatalog.cz)
Naše historie (sokolprerov.cz)
Martina Horáčková, Architektura střední Moravy, 1918–1945: Přerov, Kroměříž, Bystřice pod Hostýnem, Holešov, Kojetín (diploma thesis), Katedra teorie a dějin výtvarných umění FFUP, Olomouc 2004, pp. 58–60.
