Lower Vítkovice Area, Ostrava, conversion, conservation, post-industrial, architecture,dispute

Článek se zaměřuje na problematiku revitalizace oblasti Dolních Vítkovic (DOV), bývalého srdce železárenského a strojírenského gigantu Vítkovice, jehož existence je integrálně spojena s počátky industrializace středoevropského prostoru.

Oblast Dolní Vítkovice/Lower Vítkovice Area was a 1828 as a colliery, i.e, a large, coal-based industrial complex in the Czech city of Ostrava that by 1998 had become a typical, post-industrial brownfield. Today this complex is a successful, multi-use centre, a site of national industrial heritage, and the symbol of Ostrava’s industrial identity and cultural and economic future. Because Oblast Dolní Vítkovice/Lower Vítkovice Area also lends significant aesthetic distinction to the town’s panorama, it is often called “Ostrava Hradčany” after “Hradčany” the famous, breath-taking Castle District of Prague. This article traces the rebirth of Oblast Dolní Vítkovice/Lower Vítkovice Area and notes the features that made this rebirth both controversial (in terms of conservation) and successful (in terms of architecture and economic and educational vibrancy).