Hotel Praha Coffee Table, design Zbyněk Hřivnáč

Product detailed description

Original coffee table from the now defunct Hotel Praha, designed in the 1980s by Zbyněk Hřivnáč. The hotel provided luxury accommodation, mainly for distinguished guests of the Communist Party from the Eastern Bloc. The result was a colossal brutalist building, constructed with respect for the surrounding landscape and with a unique interior designed to the last detail. Dozens of leading architects, designers, and artists of the second half of the 20th century participated in the design. The result of their collaboration was a building that, despite the conditions of normalization, could compete with the world's leading projects of its time. Unfortunately, Hotel Praha was demolished in 2014, and its unique interiors full of Czechoslovak design were also destroyed.

Zbyněk Hřivnáč is known for his collaboration with architects on many projects. He was a trained carpenter and in the 1950s he studied interior design and industrial design. He collaborated on the designs of several important interiors, such as the International Hotel in Prague, the Alfa café on Wenceslas Square, the ČSA building, and the Czechoslovak embassies in London and Washington. One of his last projects was the interior design of the Water Works headquarters building.

Several pieces were saved from the Hotel Praha, including this coffee table with a mahogany wood frame stained in dark brown shade. The table top is covered with glass.

The table is in excellent original condition, with minor wear visible in the photos.