Palác Akropolis, Cultural center in Žižkov, Prague, Czech Republic
Palác Akropolis is a monumental corner building at Kubelíkova 1548/27 and Víta Nejedlého 1548/1 in Žižkov, Prague, designed by Rudolf V. Svoboda and built from March 1927. It has apartments and a café on the ground floor, and a theatre hall in the basement, now the main concert space, with two bars and a café with partly preserved interior.
Architect Rudolf V. Svoboda began building the corner house in March 1927 on his own plot in today's Kubelíkova Street. The Komedie theatre ensemble led by Prokop Laitrich rented the basement hall, which opened on 23 January 1928 with Mahen's comedy Ulička odvahy. During the Great Depression Svoboda was forced to sell the palace by execution; it was bought by the Krematorium company, later renamed Spolek přátel žehu.
The foyer paintings by academic painter Karel Štroff depict scenes from the founding of Czechoslovakia, while the basement shows genre scenes of the theatre and film world. The ground-floor café keeps part of its original interior. The hall now hosts concerts and theatre across genres, and the venue co-produces projects such as Liveurope, Punkt and Cirkopolis.
The palace stands at the corner of Kubelíkova and Víta Nejedlého streets in upper Žižkov, a steep walk uphill from the city centre. Trams run along Kubelíkova and Seifertova nearby; the main hall is in the basement, reached from the street entrance, with a wide side entrance on Víta Nejedlého also used as an emergency exit.
The buyer during the Great Depression was the company Krematorium, later renamed Spolek přátel žehu (Society of Friends of Cremation). Under that ownership the theatre slid almost into oblivion, and the former café became a canteen.
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