Theatre Design & Technology - May 1973 - 27

RECONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING
ADDITION: THE SLOVAK NATIONAL
THEATRE IN BRATISLAVA
MilOS l AV MAXA, M. S. C. ARC H. CZECH BUilD INGeE NTRE
PHOTOGRAPHS © 1973 BY PETR PAUL

I n mid 1972, after four years of work, the Slovak
National Theatre in Bratislava was reopened in a festive
inauguration. The extent and character of the reconstruction work produced an exacting and complicated design.
Thus, this reconstruction ranks alongside a similar modernization of Prague's Smetana Theatre as one of the most
extensive renovations in recent years in Czechoslovakia.
As the work encompassed the rebuilding and an addition to a very distinguished building, not only through
its being the first representative Slovakian stage, but also
as an historical monument under the Preservation Law, it
is worth giving this reconstruction our serious attention.
With its 623 seats, the Slovak National Theatre belongs
in dimension class C (401-800 seats) according to the
Czechoslovak state norm 73 52 50-the designing of
theatres. Its stage space (Fig. 1) ranks in the first category.
The quantity of its stage equipment places it in group aserving the artistic activities of a permanent ensemble.
Let us begin with a short review of the history of the
Theatre building. The architects who designed the theatre
and made all the projects were the well-known Vienna
theatre architects, Fellner and Helmer. The theatre was
built and officially opened in 1886. The building proper
stands on the site of an older town theatre and the new
building used the foundation masonry of the original
theatre. Late nineteenth century taste dictated pseudo
Renaissance style for the theatre's architectural facade.
The Slovak National Theatre as such did not come into
existence until after World War 1 in the year 1920.
After the opening of another theatre named for the poet
and author, P. O. Hviezdoslav, taken over for the dramatic
production, the Slovak National Theatre became the joint
home of the opera and the ballet.
From this short history of the theatre we come directly
to a technical description of the stowing and protection
of the foundation masonry against ground water. As to
the geomorphological situation of the theatre, it should

THEATRE DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

be noted that it stands in the former dry bed of the river
Danube where there is, at a depth of 8.0 meters, an impervious neogene strata (a younger tertiary formation). That
is the reason for an understandable seepage of ground
water whose level reached as high as the first basement
during certain periods. Therefore, one of the primary tasks
was the securing of the foundations of the whole underbu ilding against the changing ground water level and the
hydro isolation of all underground masonry. This problem
was solved by a modern technique called barrierless
foundations. The building is spanned by a sealing wall,.
anchored deep in the impermeable stratum. The annex is
also stowed in the so-called diaphragm, which is substantially a Milanese wall, anchored in the impermeable
strata as well (F ig. 2).
The resultant 9 meters of depth was used for rehearsal
rooms and other spaces. A certain paradox ical situation
ensued here; the floor of the rehearsal rooms is lower than
the level of the river Danu be. The project for the adaptation and protection of the underground masonry as well
as the stowing is the work of specialists of the Bratislava
Institute Hydroconsu It; the real isation is the work of
Hydroslav Domarno.
Consider at this point certain concerns that faced the
planners before the decision to reconstruct the Slovak
National Theatre was taken. Differing opinions came into
conflict-for instance, a plan to demolish the old building
and erect a new Opera in its place. This opinion was not
practicable because the same space could never accommodate an avant-garde conception of a modern opera building. It was also unjustifiable from the point of view of economy. We should be glad that a more realistic solution
was adopted and came to be realised.
I certainly do not mean to say that all the problems of
the Bratislava Opera are completely solved now. The only
aspect solved is the basic one of the reconstruction of an
existing theatre building as such. Study and work ought
to be carried out on imaginative designs for a new Opera

MAY. 1973

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