STYL

Open to People and New Visions

Industrial architecture, education, culture, connection of communities in the heart of Europe: that

is the Lower Area of Vítkovice. How has it been affected during the COVID-19 lock down? What is

being prepared for visitors in the months to come? Petr Koudela, CEO of Dolní Vítkovice (Lower Area

of Vítkovice) talked to us about these issues.

The Lower Area of Vítkovice is an area unique in

Europe and, indeed, the world. It is one of the most

visited tourist attractions in the Czech Republic.

What are your daily routines now, and what novel

offerings are you preparing?

Years ago, when we were rescuing individual buildings

in the area to open them up to the public, we had no

idea that within a few years we would be preparing

another re-opening. During the unexpected lockdown,

the Lower Area of Vítkovice got involved in providing

free playgroups for the children of first-responders and

we live-streamed instructions in chemistry and various

experiments from the Science and Technology Centre

to support home schooling. We introduced concerts

by regional bands and artists. All of these went online

via social networks or Youtube.

Currently, we are opening our venues one-by-one,

hoping our visitors will come back again in the

numbers we are used to. Nowadays, the highly

attractive café in the Bolt Tower is open daily, as are

the historic guided tours of the blasting furnaces and

Children’s World, a bonus feature of the Bolt Tower

lookout, and there is a special module for visiting

the Science and Technology Centre. We started

a unique form of drive-in cinema (with Czech and

foreign movies) which became very popular. At the

same time, we got engaged in the project “Bo kultura

jede” (Because Culture Rocks), which supports artists

in these difficult times and promotes cultural events

in Ostrava.

We are providing a festival area at Bolt Tower, and

a year-long sheltered festival room under a retractable

roof for our own events as well as other promoters’

events and festivals. I am sincerely looking forward

to events at this new scene, called Víkendov

(Weekendland), which will house adrenalin attractions

and a family amusement park. We are providing

guided tours of our expositions, such as the boat,

Niké, and the story of Richard Konkolski. We offer

unique oxygen therapy through the project “Pressure

against Viruses”. Anybody can visit Landek and the

Lower Area of Vítkovice; we have a good spectrum of

programmes to choose from.

Otázky připravil:

Vít Ruprich

Foto:

Lukáš Kaboň

www.dolnivitkovice.cz

You have been active in the media your entire

professional life. You are a member of the editorial

team of our magazine, too. What do you think the

image of our region in the Czech Republic is, and

how is it shaped by modern media?

Thanks to original projects, events, and drive, it sure

is very positive. Even though there is some occasional

negativity in some local issues, we generally succeed

in positively promoting our region, and not only in

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regional media outlets. Speaking of our projects,

I am convinced that the success of the Lower Area

of Vítkovice is largely based on our good cooperation

with the media. I am very grateful for that.

The Lower Area of Vítkovice contains numerous

National Heritage sites. How do you manage to

coordinate them with new architectural projects?

This is a special discipline, and opinions on that

differ. We negotiate with relevant institutions, and

our results, awards and keen visitor interest have

proven our efforts right. From the very beginning,

our key visionaries have been Jan Světlík, the

author of the project, and the architect, Josef

Pleskot. My brother, who has lived in Britain

for many years, was asked once by his friends,

knowing he’s Czech, what he would recommend

seeing in the Lower Area of Vítkovice, as they

were getting ready for their trip to Ostrava. They

had heard about an interesting site with stunning

architectural features; and, of course, they had not

known that he is related to that area.

You have many business partners. What attracts

them to cooperate with the Lower Area of Vítkovice?

We want to be a good partner for them in our

activities. We offer them participation in education,

the preparation of teaching modules, as well as

space to hold attractive and original company events,

meetings, or interesting presentations. They may use

some employee benefits in the form of tickets to our

facilities or cultural events taking place in the Lower

Area of Vítkovice. We have a wide range of regional

and national partners who support our development

and sustainability. We are proud to promote them

(a full list is available on our web), and we award their

assistance by offering them our services and facilities.

This contributes to the efficient operation of the Lower

Area of Vítkovice.

Which other destination in our region would you

recommend to a tourist? Will you tell us about

a place where you like going to relax?

I am a patriot when it comes to Ostrava and the Lower

Area of Vítkovice so I must mention Landek Park.

Prehistoric finds, mining history, landscapes, bikeways,

sportsgrounds, walks by the Oder River, and fine

cuisine make Landek a very fine place.

Outside Ostrava, I love Karlova Studánka and I also

like driving to my favourite resort in Kopřivná near

Praděd Mountain.

Thank you for the interview.