MEDIEVAL TRANSITION

the drifter

ANALYSIS OF A TRAVELER

British analyst guided through Prague by Franz Kafka’s The Castle in the attempt to compare cities and their zones with par-ticular patterns in the search for a social magnet in the city. One must observe from an outliers’ perspective combined with an Eastern European mindset.

5th most visited European city

_ strong magnet from adjacent cities [Brno, Dresden, Bratislava]_ medieval_ low technology_ american influence_ current tourism reaching exhaustion

prague castle franz kafka house campa museum charles bridge uhelny trh wenceslas square narodni museum train station 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

THE TOURIST LINE

high activity path spots of popular interest

12

3

4

5

6 7

8

FIGURE GROUND

current buildings’ footprint and position

STREET MAP

main avenues and connections

CHARLES BRIDGE

most activated area in the city average of 320 people per hour [march - september]

PATH TO THE ZONE UHELNY TRH ‘TRIANGULAR MARKET’

Most historic and important market in the city

6

5

10 12 5

9 14 4 8 11

13 3

2

1

It all startedin the metro wherearcades exist on dim lights full offresh hot bread andodd transactionsoccur involving a kind of powder in front of the public eye.at first glancethe town appears asan ample linear arrangement reminding all:this is the main square, WENCESLAS, where politics areevident and trafficgoverns withoutpedestrian care.propaganda and signs look new for thistown-city.

PATHS AND TRANSPORT

As one beholds it one notices its depth, the light motions in many silhouettes of not yet urban scenarios capable of reproducing density, city-morphosis; behaving less undeveloped by the need of cultural advances and tech-nology in the quest of bal-ance and competition.

Arriving at Prague from the train station in the morning letted me explore freely fol-lowing around its citizensto their quotidian walk.

3

1 2

4

narrow shopping lane + constant pedestrian flow wide street + less activity high frequency market + low consumption under-construction + annoying souvenir staff expensive zone [cafe / restaurant / shop] art / vegetable / wooden sculptures

approx 3.5m approx 12m 3.5m [left] - 3m [market] - 4m [right]

l234-YT=xcb+`/u126qtGhDSFGLV

rty;v<NIEE)

,g%IWoQGJD357;HBC

(n”Q

CONSUMERISM AND AMENITY PERCENTAGES

shops + restaurants + cafes 70%

construction + renovation + infrastructure improvement 7%

young market + technology + music + objects 8%

museums 15%

7 6 5

10

THE 3 CORNERS UHELNY TRH TRIANGULAR PLAZA

All the corners of the medieval plaza are surveyed constantly by police. The zone is transited by tourist groups colliding with the end of classes from the adjacent primary school with enormous doors on one vertex [10];governed by arches and restaurants with high class consumers [9]; dominated by empty yellow taxi cars, vans, brand new expensive German cars restricting walkways [8] permeating the pedestrians around a compressed zone.

9

8

SOCIAL CONTRASTS

The derelict midpoint is surrounded by elite citizen. the zone contains high class winery, two Michelin star cafes and restaurants, expensive galleries, old 5 level maximum residences and a school known for teaching politician’s children.

The triangular plaza is mostly occupied by homeless with plastic handbags interrogated every hour by many police officers for touristic reasons. they gather between buildings all day + drink from the tainted water fountain, attempt to sleep, never asking for change, they just exist.

The cupule / arch structure governs the town and the zone sustain-ing loads leaving a narrow pasage for window-shoppers and local residents, leaving space for newspapers and cardboard homeless shelters, suspicious activities in front of police quarters.

Active market seen from its crucial corner where congestion occurs and obstructs pedestrian flow. With Cubism, the medieval build-ings are modified in front of the beholder as perspective and angle views begin to shift on their edges and vertices.

A movement who overwhelmed mindsets is still quite present and strong on Prague where it remains as part of the cultural represen-tations.

Common ornament in Czech culture

going to narrow turistic passage

11 12

2

3

32

1

1

SECTIONS

SECTION 1

‘Guarding a dull toilet-fountain plaza, watching those filthy vagabonds rest, observing confused tourists. I should send the dog after them, just for a laugh. Serve & protect will soon fade away. Keeping the family content, that is the goal.’

RECORDED AND TRANSLATED CONVERSATIONS

RECORDED AND TRANSLATED CONVERSATIONS

SECTION 2

“The first ergonomic and green car. I must see the owner. black suit, black tie, a total square driving a smart? he is picking his son of the primary school, he is yelling at him. he has left the car on the square to buy meat + wine on the corner. meanwhile his son starts scratching with some keys the brand new car.”

SECTION 3

‘it’s 50 cents, love’ “Here you have. which is the best toilet? hmmm. not so clean. Sorry, madam could I have some toilet paper? ‘how much?’ “could you give me a roll and then I give it back?” ‘Yes, that is 50 cents more.’ “Sorry?’ ‘50 cents’Knock on door after 4 minutes past. ‘your time is over, 50 cents more’ “What? this is outrageous. i am in an awkward position. Pay and finish. No more explorations on this land.”

RECORDED AND TRANSLATED CONVERSATIONS

DISTINCTION+

SEQUENCE

The city if explored shows continuous distractions and alienations from western cities and contains explicit urban myths for public exposition. When you finally observe one of the layers and scratch further eerie scenarios become discovered. Uhelny trh holds a strange case of human need which is then exploited as business and used for gratifications within a certain time schedule. The private interruptions happening con-stantly and seen by some as usual business, normal routines.

COMMON EXTERNAL TOILETS

+ OBSERVATIONSThe inhabitants do not feel very connected to new designs in Prague, so most new spaces and buildings are considered for just tourists and depreciated by the locals.

MODERN THEATRE PLAZA[almost abandoned]

PROPERTIES AND MAIN CHARACTERS

PRAGUE CASTLE TOWER GATES CAMPA MUSEUM TRAIN STATION CUBIST ELEMENTS

MEDIEVAL FRANZ KAFKA HOUSE + METAMORPHOSIS CREEPY RADIO TOWER

CULTURAL BOUNDARIES

Materialistic allegories and graffitti on 70-80s service structures like ventilation shafts as part of the current antithetic view of the east.

CONTEMPORARY CITY CENTER POLAR SITUATIONS

ARCHITECTURAL REFLECTIONS

Constructions after 1930s where repetition is a pattern never broken always inherited and intrinsically iterative but it is deformed and it is distorted for individual character of buildings persistent replays of past with a dip of future-present perspec-tive and use of materials and technology.

REPETITION NEVER ENDS ,,, ALTERATIONS CONTINUE ...

CZECH POLITICAL PROPAGANDA 80s