Brutal Bratislava

Join us for another interesting lecture at the V-Club. We will reveal the stories behind the most famous works of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the inverted pyramid of Slovak Radio and the dynamic silhouette of the SNP Bridge.

When the demolition of the former Trade Union House – Istropolis began in 2022, it was not the first time that a public building from the socialist era had been demolished in our capital city.

What was unique, however, was the public interest and discussion that this plan sparked about Bratislava’s “brutalist” heritage.

Radically modern monuments from the 1960s and 1970s – the inverted pyramid of Slovak Radio, the dynamic silhouette of the SNP Bridge with a space restaurant at the top of the pillar, and the slanted “beams” bridging the Baroque Water Barracks of the Slovak National Gallery – have become unmistakable symbols of today’s Bratislava.

To this day, they are perceived as controversial and provoke heated debates.

Mgr. Peter Szalay PHD.

In my lecture I will discuss Brutalism in architecture: what this style means and whether we can talk about Brutalism in Bratislava at all. I will reveal the stories of the most famous, but also almost forgotten works from this period.

Venue: V Klub, Bratislava
Date: 10.2.2026
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Entrance: 12 €, on the spot 14 €

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