() is a
colloquial
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
term in
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
and
Slovak for a
panel building
Panel buildings may refer to buildings of one of the following types:
*Built of structural insulated panels
*Built of pre-fabricated concrete blocks, named differently in various countries.
*Large Panel System building, often called Plattenbau ...
constructed of pre-fabricated,
pre-stressed concrete
Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted i ...
, such as those extant in the former
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
and elsewhere in the world. Paneláks are usually located in
housing estates
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States ...
(
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus'
Places
* Czech, ...
: ''sídliště'',
Slovak: ''
sídlisko
Sídlisko is a term used in Slovak () which mainly means housing estate. Other terms associated with this term are housing project, housing estate, settlement, or neighbourhood. In these housing projects, apartment buildings are built in the most ...
'').
lural: is derived from the standard cz, panelový dům or sk, panelový dom meaning, literally, "panel house / prefabricated-sections house". The term ''panelák'' is used mainly for the elongate blocks with more sections with separate entrances – simple panel
tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...
s are called "věžový dům" (tower house) or colloquially "věžák". The buildings remain a towering, highly visible reminder of the
communist era
A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule.
Current communist states China
The Chinese Communist ...
. The term ''panelák'' refers specifically to buildings in the former Czechoslovakia. However, similar buildings were a common feature of
urban planning in communist countries
Urban planning in the Soviet Bloc countries during the Cold War era was dictated by ideological, political, social as well as economic motives. Unlike the urban development in the Western countries, Soviet-style planning often called for the comp ...
and even in the West.
History
Interwar Czechoslovakia
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
saw many
constructivist architects in the country, such as
Vladimír Karfík and
František Lydie Gahura
František Lydie Gahura (10 October 1891 in Zlín – 15 September 1958 in Brno) was a Czeochslovak architect and sculptor.
Career
Gahura became famous for his collaboration on the architectural and urban design of the Czech city of Zlín. He ...
, many of whom would maintain prominence following the establishment of the Czechoslovak People's Republic in 1948.
In the years following 1948, the Czechoslovakian architectural scene favored
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style () or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace ...
over more
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...
.
However, a 1954 speech by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
encouraging the construction of
panel buildings, coupled by post-war housing shortages faced throughout both eastern and western Europe, encouraged the country's architectures to construct more simplistic, 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
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
.
By the late 1960s, the country's paneláks often reached up to 16 stories in height.
The
As of 2005, they housed about 3.5 million people, or about one-third of the country's population.
Following the country's
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
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 government sold the paneláks to their tenants for cheap prices, furthering speculation that the apartments would be undesirable.
However, these fears have not materialized.
Characteristics
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 their tendency to become overcrowded.
In 1990,
Václav Havel
Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...
, who was then the president of Czechoslovakia, called paneláks "undignified rabbit pens, slated for liquidation".
Panelák housing estates as a whole are said to be mere
bedroom communities
A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
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 today
Paneláks remain commonplace today, and have attracted a wide diversity of
social classes
A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inco ...
.
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 a number of positive cultural depictions including magazines and TV shows.
Areas with high shares of its population living in paneláks include the city of
Karvina (where approximately 97% of people live in them),
Petržalka
Petržalka (; german: Engerau / Audorf; hu, Pozsonyligetfalu) is the largest borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Situated on the right bank of the river Danube, the area shares a land border with Austria, and is home to around 100,000 ...
,, and the city of
Most
Most or Möst or ''variation'', may refer to:
Places
* Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria
* Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic
** Most District, a district surrounding the city
** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city
** A ...
(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.
Amenities
Some Czech sociologists fear that panelák inhabitants may lack amenities, and suffer from being unable to physically access distant businesses and commercial centres. To combat this, certain local authorities are making significant efforts to prevent this scenario by changing bedroom communities into multifunctional urban neighbourhoods. This may include support for the construction of missing facilities, such as shopping centres, churches, or improved transport accessibility.
Paneláks, particularly in big cities, are often the first targets for builders of telecommunication networks, as the housing estates combine a high concentration of people with easy access to underground and in-house spaces for cables. Panelák housing estates are usually the first neighbourhoods with access to
cable TV
Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...
,
WiFi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves ...
network coverage,
cable-modem service,
DSL
Digital subscriber line (DSL; originally digital subscriber loop) is a family of technologies that are used to transmit digital data over telephone lines. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean asymmetric dig ...
and other
telecommunication services
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
.
Renovations
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
The koruna, or crown, (sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro currenc ...
to modernize the country's paneláks, and 1.5 trillion to tear them down entirely.
In recent years, many paneláks have been renovated, partially due to funds from the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.
A sizable renovation market has formed in recent years, and even a home
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
, ''Panel Plus'', exists to give renovators ideas.
Ownership
Following the Velvet Revolution, most paneláks 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 private landlords. The buildings are often managed by
housing cooperatives
A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity, usually a cooperative or a corporation, which owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings; it is one type of housing tenure. Housing cooperatives are a distinc ...
,
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, self-governing non-profit organizations, or through
public-private partnership.
Other countries
Buildings similar to ''paneláks'' were built also in other communist countries, and they are a common feature of
cityscape
In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...
s across
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
, and to some degree
Northern Europe
The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54th parallel north, 54°N, or may be based on other g ...
.
One of the most drastic reconstruction policies of the Eastern Bloc was the
systematization
Systematization ( ro, Sistematizarea) in Romania was a program of urban planning carried out by the Romanian Communist Party under the leadership of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Ceaușescu was impressed by the ideological mobilization and mass adulation ...
programme that took place in the 1970s and 1980s under
Nicolae Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu ( , ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian communist politician and dictator. He was the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and the second and last Communist leader of Romania. He was ...
in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. In 1971 Ceaușescu visited
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
and was impressed by the
Juche
''Juche'' ( ; ), officially the ''Juche'' idea (), is the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers' Party of Korea. North Korean sources attribute its conceptualization to Kim Il-sung, the country's founder and ...
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
. He enacted a mass programme of demolition and reconstruction of existing villages, towns, and cities, in whole or in part, in order to build blocks of flats (''blocuri'').
In
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
, buildings similar to paneláks are colloquially known as "panelki", and are the predominant type of en masse housing throughout the country. In
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, similar buildings are called
panelház
Panelház (Short: ''panel'') is a Hungarian term for a type of concrete block of flats ( panel buildings), built in the People's Republic of Hungary and other Eastern Bloc countries.
It was the main urban housing type in the Socialist-era,Gáb ...
.
In
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, they are called "bloki" (blocks), or "wielka płyta" (the great panel).
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
they are known as
Plattenbau
(plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabrication, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings ...
.
Most buildings in Soviet-era
Microdistrict
Microdistrict, or microraion (russian: микрорайо́н, ''mikrorajón''), is a residential complex—a primary structural element of the residential area construction in the Soviet Union and in some post-Soviet and former Socialist st ...
s are panel buildings.
In the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, among former communist countries, a majority of the population lives in flats in
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
(65.1%),
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
(63.8%),
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(58.4%), Czech Republic (52.8%) and Slovakia (50.3%) (as of 2014, data from
Eurostat
Eurostat ('European Statistical Office'; DG ESTAT) is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Eurostat's main responsibilities are to provide statis ...
).
[see section Source data for tables and figures, Housing statistics: tables and figure]
/ref> 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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, some housing estates have buildings that are similar or actually are paneláks, or they are built from the same or similar material.
Popular culture
* The movie ''Panelstory'' from Věra Chytilová
Věra Chytilová (2 February 1929 – 12 March 2014) was an avant-garde Czech film director and pioneer of Czech cinema. Banned by the Czechoslovak government in the 1960s, she is best known for her Czech New Wave film, ''Sedmikrásky'' ('' Dais ...
shows the life of several inhabitants in a real unfinished communist-bloc apartment project. Awarded a Great Prize in San Remo in 1980.
* Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr (born 21 July 1955) is a Hungarian filmmaker. Debuting with the film '' Family Nest'' (1977), Tarr began his directorial career with a brief period of what he refers to as "social cinema", aimed at telling everyday stories about ordi ...
's film ''Panelkapcsolat'' tells a doomed love story set in a similar housing project in Hungary. Special Mention at the 1982 Locarno Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, s ...
.
* Polish director Krzysztof Kieślowski
Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993
–1994) ...
's celebrated ''Dekalog
''Dekalog'' (, also known as ''Dekalog: The Ten Commandments'' and ''The Decalogue'') is a 1988 Polish drama television miniseries directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski and co-written by Kieślowski with Krzysztof Piesiewicz, with music by Zbignie ...
'' series is set in a ''wielka płyta'' housing estate in Warsaw, Poland.
See also
*Sídlisko
Sídlisko is a term used in Slovak () which mainly means housing estate. Other terms associated with this term are housing project, housing estate, settlement, or neighbourhood. In these housing projects, apartment buildings are built in the most ...
(Slovakia)
*Housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States a ...
*Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
*Affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...
*Subsidized housing
Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housin ...
*Subsidized housing in the United States
In the United States, subsidized housing is administered by federal, state and local agencies to provide subsidized rental assistance for low-income households. Public housing is priced much below the market rate, allowing people to live in mor ...
* Section 8 (USA)
* Khrushchyovka
''Khrushchyovka'' ( rus, Хрущёвка, Khrushchyovka, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfkə) or (a derogatory nickname) ''Khrushchoba'' ( rus, Хрущоба, Hrushchoba, t=Khru-slum) is an unofficial name for a type of low-cost, concrete- paneled or brick ...
(Former Soviet Union)
* Panelház
Panelház (Short: ''panel'') is a Hungarian term for a type of concrete block of flats ( panel buildings), built in the People's Republic of Hungary and other Eastern Bloc countries.
It was the main urban housing type in the Socialist-era,Gáb ...
(Hungary)
* Million Programme
The Million Programme ( sv, Miljonprogrammet) was an ambitious public housing program implemented in Sweden between 1965 and 1974 by the governing Swedish Social Democratic Party to ensure the availability of affordable, high quality housing t ...
(Sweden)
* Plattenbau
(plural: , german: Platte + Bau, lit=panel/slab' + 'building/ construction) is a building constructed of large, prefabrication, prefabricated concrete slabs. The word is a compound of (in this context: panel) and (building). Such buildings ...
(Germany)
* Brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
*Minimalism
In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...
References
;Bibliography
* Stankova, Jaroslava, et al. (1992) ''Prague: Eleven Centuries of Architecture.'' Prague: PAV. .
* Zarecor, Kimberly Elman (2011) ''Manufacturing a Socialist Modernity: Housing in Czechoslovakia, 1945–1960.'' Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. .
Chánov case study
;Notes
External links
Website about panelaks in the Czech Republic
(in Czech)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panelak
Urban planning in the Czech Republic
Architecture in the Czech Republic
Public housing
Economy of Czechoslovakia
Prefabricated buildings
Concrete buildings and structures