Panelak-the social housing that forever changed the way of living_04-20-16_AnastassiyaProkofyeva

View on panelak from Sidliste

Panelak-the social housing that forever changed the way of living

From my experience panelaks never been popular among its habitants, especially for its apperance. I grew up in couple of them, played in surrounding neighborhood called Sídliště („park“ surrounded by panelaks).

Panelak housing estates are one of the most visible parts of the heritage of communism. Even though some architecturally similar buildings were built even before the war, the main boom started in the 1960‘s and 1970‘s and they continued to be constructed in massive numbers until the end of communism.

View on Sídlištěs nowadays

Panelak in its new colorful coat

The main goal of building these was to provide housing at an acceptable price for huge numbers of citizens. The effort to create uniform housing lead to the construction of a featureless, boring environment. A lot of the panelaks‘ inhabitants proved enormous creativity in transforming their flats‘ interiors. The absence of a garden was solved by escaping to weekend cottages or chalets, which most of the families owned in the countryside. This kind of living became popular not only among people with low incomes, but also attracted the middle class who did not have many alternatives at the time. The fall of communism changed a lot in the life of these communities. The large housing estates which used to have only a single supermarket in their centre are now equipped with huge shopping malls, including a variety of services, as well as entertainment complexes. The old monotonous grey concrete buildings are changing colour and in many cases the bare walls are even adorned with works of art. But even though the environment of housing estates is gradually acquiring a happier face, it will never shake off its anonymous character. The panelaks‘ inhabitants hardly know their neighbours. Sometimes it is a great challenge to find a person you want to visit, living in this kind of concrete labyrinth. In spite of having a colorful, new coat, the panelak housing will always be a reminder of the arrogance with which they substituted old small neighborhoods and villages.

For me this was normal way of living. However, if I look back I see it was unique experience. Even though panelaks werent my favorite piece of architecture, they were part of my early life. I could see the big transformation from gray-concrete Sídlištěs to colorful more lively environment. Now, the colors of most of the panelaks are fading out but old generation remains, followed by young generation that, when it comes to family living, most of the citizens choose to live in panelak. As the living conditions and surroundings improved rapidly. Living quality increased as well. And nowadays we can say that some of them are beautiful.