Over the centuries, many secular and ecclesiastical buildings have alternated within the narrow space of the chateau hill. St. Clements Church and the Virgin Mary Basilica did not survive the Hussite wars, and the only building to survive in the predominately Brethren New Town, founded in 1490, was the Gothic Red Tower. The Renaissance buildings of the chateau and brewery have survived up to today, along with the later Baroque chateau riding school, Piarist College, school and church. The simple yet monumental facade of the brewery, designed by the Baroque architect František Maxmilián Kaňka, faces today's visitors entering the chateau forecourt. However, the most prominent building of the forecourt is undoubtedly the Baroque Piarist Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross, built according to designs by Giovanni Battista Alliprandi, its spires complement Litomyšl's skyline.
In 2013, within this rich historical context, Josef Pleskot's design studio addressed the issue of revitalizing the chateau hill with an elegant design for the space outside the chateau grounds. The design concerns modifications to the paved area between the chateau gardens, brewery, Church of the Discovery of the Holy Cross and the Regional Museum. An integral part of the project was also the modification of Jiráskova Street which runs between the chateau forecourt and the adjacent park. Due to heritage protection issues, circumstances for present-day architects are complex. They are required to preserve as much as possible from preceding periods whilst giving their creations a modern design, resulting in almost “schizophrenic” situations requiring well thought out approaches. The architect Josef Pleskot chose a strategy of disciplined humility – his modifications are almost invisible, as if they have always been there. It looks as if almost nothing has changed within the chateau forecourt space. There are however, many fundamental changes.
Above all, the whole area of the chateau forecourt has been unified with one type of cobblestone, and kerbs between the roadway and footpaths have been eliminated. Only metal elements set into the cobblestones mark parking places and the direction of the road. The area of Jiráskova Street has been transformed into a square, which cars can drive through, and which still retains its artistic conception. Outside the Regional Museum the paving continues uninterrupted up a gentle slope under which archaeological remains found during construction are housed. A wooden well has been installed close to the museum entrance with, on its calm surface, a shimmering reflection of the Piarist Church. New concrete footpaths have been laid in the park, facilitating entry into the chateau forecourt from various directions and linking up logically with existing features, e.g. the romantically themed fountain “Na Máchadle”.
Entrusting the task of modifying the chateau forecourt to the architect Pleskot, who also designed the reconstruction of the Regional Museum (01-9) and the second part of the Chateau Brewery (01-133a), has undeniably paid off. Pleskot's modifications link up organically with the original setting, thus creating an “invisible framework” in whose embrace the historical buildings stand out with their monumental dignity. The previously neglected space was, according to Josef Pleskota himself, “elevated to the level of a square, as this is what the surrounding buildings with their sociable mission require”.
EK
