We tend to think that the cities we live in are mostly the result of systematic planning and design by architects and urbanists—and that this is basically how cities come to be. But that’s not the whole truth. In fact, there are many other forces that shape cities in significant ways: everyday life, people’s interactions, ordinary, day-to-day events. And sometimes, exceptional events leave extraordinary traces on the city’s material form.

The Krkonoše Museum in Vrchlabí was founded in 1883 by the Austrian Krkonoše Association and has been housed in a former Augustinian monastery since 1966. Ecclesiastical architecture does not lend itself well to contemporary museum exhibitions. The recent renovation therefore required a highly sensitive approach—one that would preserve the monastery’s architectural and historical value, while carving out space for a contemporary retelling of the story of the mountains. To accommodate a lecture hall, museum shop, elevator, and visitor facilities, a new concrete entrance structure was added—its form evoking a rugged rock formation. The entire visitor route has been reorganized, too. The cloister garth plays a unique role, both in the exhibition and in the monastery’s architecture, symbolizing the Earth’s connection to the Universe and its spiritual essence.

Back in the 1920s, architect Leopold Bauer described the department store as the cornerstone of public life—a space where culture, fashion, and education converged. His vision went on to inspire numerous department store projects. In recent decades, however, many of these buildings have suffered neglect, marginalization, and, subsequently, a functional and material decline—marked by vacancies, disorder, and in some cases, demolition.