Česká správa sociálního zabezpečení, Cultural monument in Smíchov, Czech Republic

The building of the Czech Social Security Administration's records office stands north of the main building at Křížová 2383/27 in Smíchov. Designed by František Albert Libra and Jiří Kan and built in 1935–1936, it is a five-storey rectangular block with a recessed sixth floor, a smooth facade banded with horizontal rows of windows, and a prism-shaped staircase attached to the shorter north side. The mechanical filing system fills the first two upper floors, offices the rest.

The Czechoslovak state bought the ten-storey former engineering works at Smíchov in 1926; the filing system designed by Ferdinand Ludwig was first installed there in 1930. The present building by František Albert Libra and Jiří Kan was erected in 1935–1936 on the adjacent plot, with steelwork by Vítkovice and cranes from Otakar Podhájský's Hostivař works. Capacity rose from 2,720 to 9,000 drawers.

The filing system's nickname evokes a Kafkaesque bureaucracy, yet it was one of the largest and most efficient of its kind, cutting the staff needed for file management tenfold in the 1930s. Scenes of Jan Alfréd Holman's 1941 film Rukavička were shot among the drawers.

The building is located in a residential area and is easily reached by public transport that runs regularly throughout the day. To visit inside, check ahead about access since it functions as an active government office.

The filing system was filmed in Jan Alfréd Holman's 1941 film Rukavička. In the 1970s ladders were added so operators could climb out of the crane platforms during power cuts; former staff recalled descending from their perches in the dark before that.