Some call it ugly. Others defend it for its architectural features. Whichever faction you side with, you can’t deny that it is an exceptional building.
The Slovak Radio Building, standing in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, was constructed in the shape of an inverted pyramid. It stands 80 meters tall, if you measure it to the tip of the antenna on its roof. Since 1983, the year the building was completed, it has housed the headquarters of Slovakia’s national public-service radio, Slovenský rozhlas, or Slovak Radio.
Image credit: Lubos Houska/Shutterstock.com
The Slovak Radio Building was designed by Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič and Barnabáš Kissling. Construction began in 1967, and took 16 years to complete. The building includes spacious interior rooms, a large concert hall with over five hundred seats and a well-equipped recording studio. It is also home to one of the largest organs in Central Europe with 6,300 pipes.
The radio building was part of larger planning concept consisting of a series of large public structures in a greenbelt along a planned circular boulevard. The concept was never realized and only a few fragments, including the Slovak Radio building, were built.
Image credit: Fred Romero/Flickr
The inverted pyramid shape is rare in architecture, but not unique. Other examples of buildings of this shape includes:
The Tempe Municipal Building in Tempe, Arizona. It was designed by architects Michael Goodwin and Kemper Goodwin, and built during 1969-1971.
Image credit: Daderot/Wikimedia Commons
The Geisel Library building of the University of California, San Diego, designed by William L. Pereira & Associates, completed in 1970.
Image credit: O Palsson/Flickr
Image credit: Roger Smith/Flickr
The St. Petersburg Pier, in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Constructed in 1973, it featured a five-story inverted pyramid-shaped building, designed by St. Petersburg architect William B. Harvard, Sr.
Image credit: Matthew Paulson/Flickr
State Government Offices in Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
Image credit: Rob Deutscher/Flickr
The Hong Kong Coliseum, also known as Hung Hom Coliseum, a multi-purpose indoor arena, in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Image credit: ThamKC / Shutterstock.com
The Ministry of Interior, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Image credit: Jon Rawlinson/Flickr
The Pyramid On Central, Phoenix.
Image credit: Erica Chang/Wikimedia Commons
The Museum of Hanoi, Vietnam.
Image credit: TuananhVu / Shutterstock.com
China Pavilion at Expo 2010. After the Expo it was reopened as the China Art Museum.
Image credit: Will Hastings/Flickr
Tokyo Big Sight a convention and exhibition center in Tokyo, Japan.
Image credit: Domenico Vescio/Flickr
References:
# https://www.visitbratislava.com/places/slovak-radio/
# Architectuul, http://architectuul.com/architecture/slovak-radio-building
# urbanHIST, https://www.urbanhist.eu/single-post/2017/12/18/SLOVAK-RADIO-BUILDING-–-UNIQUE-ARCHITECTURAL-AND-TECHNICAL-SIGHT-IN-BRATISLAVA
# Gizmodo, https://io9.gizmodo.com/these-upside-down-pyramid-buildings-seem-to-defy-gravit-1570254716
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