Panelák is a colloquial term in Czech and Slovak for a Large panel system-building constructed from pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete, such as those extant in the former Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic & Slovakia) and elsewhere in the world. Paneláks are usually grouped together, creating a housing estate (, ).
(plural: ) is derived from the standard or meaning, literally, "panel house / prefabricated-sections house". The term panelák is used mainly for the elongated blocks with more sections with separate entrances â simple panel tower blocks are called (tower house) or colloquially . The buildings remain a towering, highly visible reminder of the Communist era. The term panelák refers specifically to buildings in the former Czechoslovakia; however, similar buildings were a common feature of urban planning in communist countries and even in the West.
Interwar Czechoslovakia saw many constructivist architects in the country, such as VladimÃÂr KarfÃÂk and Frantià ¡ek Lydie Gahura, many of whom would maintain prominence following the establishment of the Czechoslovak People's Republic in 1948. In the years following 1948, the Czechoslovak architectural scene favored Stalinist architecture over more modern architecture. However, a 1954 speech by Nikita Khrushchev encouraging the construction of panel buildings, coupled with post-war housing shortages faced throughout both Eastern and Western Europe, encouraged the country's architects to construct simple, modernist buildings. Throughout the mid 1950s, the country's designers applied a modernist aesthetic known as the , named after the international attention it attracted during the 1958 World's Fair held in Brussels. By the late 1960s, the country's paneláks often reached up to 16 stories in height.
Between 1959 and 1995, paneláks containing 1.17 million flats were built in what is now the Czech Republic. , they housed about 3.5 million people, or about one-third of the country's population.
In Prague and other large cities, most paneláks were built in a type of housing estate known as a or . Such housing developments now dominate large parts of Prague, Bratislava, and other cities and towns. The first such housing development built in Prague was Petà Âiny in the 1950s; the largest in Prague is Jià ¾nàMÃÂsto (about 100,000 inhabitants), with 200 buildings and 30,000 flats built since the 1970s. The Slovak Petrà ¾alka however, is the largest such housing development in Central Europe, with its population exceeding 110,000.
Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, there was widespread speculation that the country's paneláks would fall out of favor, due to their simplicity and small size. The Czech and Slovak government sold individual panelák apartments to their tenants for cheap prices, furthering speculation that the apartments would be undesirable. However, these fears have not materialized.
The tallest prefabricated house in the Czech Republic was built in 1980 in Jià ¾nàMÃÂsto in Prague, currently called the Kupa hostel. The high building with 23 floors is a unique bridge connection on the top floors. One of the longest prefabricated houses is located in Bohnice, Prague, on Zelenohorská Street. The twelve-story building from 1973âÂÂ1974 with 612 apartments and about 1,500 residents is long and has 18 entrances. It has the longest corridor, water distribution, and heating of a prefabricated house in the country. An even longer prefabricated house is located in Ruprechtice, Liberecké. It is a curved prefabricated house nicknamed (Hockey Stick) because of its shape. It has 24 entrances, 11 floors, and 693 apartments.
However, the longest panel house (continuous panel house complex) in the Czech Republic is located in Ostrava on HornàStreet (it also extends into Cholevova and Mituà ¡ova Streets), it has a total of 28 entrances (of which 26 are in one line), 6âÂÂ13 floors, 841 apartments and a total length of (of which are in one line).
A typical panelák apartment has a foyer, bathroom, kitchen, a living room (also used for dining), and a bedroom. All paneláks in the Czech Republic were constructed to follow one of sixteen design patterns.
Paneláks have been criticized for their simplistic design, poor-quality building materials, and overcrowding. In 1990, Václav Havel, who was then the president of Czechoslovakia, called paneláks "undignified rabbit pens, slated for liquidation". Panelák housing estates as a whole are said by some to be mere bedroom communities with few conveniences and even less character.
However, paneláks have also been praised by many. Upon their introduction, paneláks offered more reliable heating, hot water, and plumbing than existing buildings, especially those in rural locations. The buildings typically offered large amounts of natural light, compared to their older counterparts.
Paneláks remain commonplace today, and have attracted a wide diversity of social classes. Fears that paneláks would become undesirable and be subject to middle class flight, commonplace following the Velvet Revolution, have not materialized. Panelák apartments have risen in value more than brick apartments, have been praised for housing people from a wide variety of incomes, and have been subject to several positive cultural depictions, including magazines and TV shows.
Areas with high shares of its population living in paneláks include the city of Karviná (where approximately 97% of people live in them), Petrà ¾alka, and the city of Most (approx. 80%). Most's historical city was largely torn down due to the spread of coal mining and the majority of its population was moved into paneláks.
In March 2005, the director of the Czech Ministry of Regional Development expressed concerns that the country's paneláks were near the end of their lifespan, citing an increasing number of structural incidents. He estimated that his agency would need 400 billion Czech koruna to modernize paneláks in the Czech Republic, and 1.5 trillion to tear them down entirely.
In recent years, many paneláks have been repainted, renovated, and repaired if needed, with funding mainly from the government, partially thanks to funds from the European Union (EU). A sizable renovation market has formed in recent years, and even a home magazine, Panel Plus, exists to give renovators ideas.
Following the Velvet Revolution, most panelák apartments were sold to their tenants at low costs. Many panelák flats are now the property of their inhabitants, though they are also rented out through real estate agents and private landlords, The buildings and surrounding areas are often owned and managed by the government, administrative divisions, housing cooperatives, authorities, self-governing (non-profit) organizations, owners of apartments (individual blocks), and/or through publicâÂÂprivate partnerships and such, or a combination thereof.
Buildings similar to paneláks were also built in other communist countries, and they are a common feature of cityscapes across Central and Eastern Europe, and to some degree Northern Europe.
In Bulgaria, buildings similar to paneláks are colloquially known as , and are the predominant type of en masse housing throughout the country. In Hungary, similar buildings are called . In Poland, they are called (blocks), or (the great panel). In Germany, they are known as . Most buildings in Soviet-era microdistricts are panel buildings.
In the EU, among former communist countries, a majority of the population lives in flats in Latvia (64.4%), Estonia (60.6%), Lithuania (59.5%), Czech Republic (50.9%), Bulgaria (46.7%), Slovakia (45.3%) and Poland (41.4%) (, data from Eurostat). However, not all flat dwellers in Eastern Europe live in Communist era blocks of flats; many live in buildings constructed after the fall of communism, and some in buildings surviving from the era before communism.
In the United States, some housing estates have buildings that are similar to paneláks or are built from the same or similar material. One of such estates was Pruitt-Igoe.