The Trenčín Architecture Center (CAT), located in the Miloš Alexander Bazovský Gallery in Trenčín, presents the exhibition Heritage Protection and Modern Architecture of the Trenčín Region: Current State and Challenges.
The exhibition addresses one of the most sensitive topics in contemporary architecture—the protection of 20th-century architectural heritage.
Exhibition architecture: Marek Badinský, Lucia Tóthová
Curators: Alexandra Mutala, Radka Nedomová
“The starting point of the exhibition is the question of what it means in practice to be considered a heritage monument. The Act on the Protection of the Monuments Fund defines heritage value as a combination of historical, social, urban, and architectural values—yet inclusion on the official list alone does not guarantee an adequate condition or societal recognition of a work,” says Alexandra Mutala, one of the exhibition’s curators.
The exhibition highlights the fact that modern architecture has long been overlooked within heritage protection, often burdened by ideological associations with the former regime. As a result, many valuable buildings disappear from the public space without broader discussion about their quality and significance. At the same time, the exhibition offers interpretations of texts that will be published in the forthcoming first publication of the Trenčín Architecture Center. This publication will provide a comprehensive perspective from experts from Slovakia and the Czech Republic on the protection of 20th-century architectural heritage in the Trenčín Region—from legal frameworks and historical contexts to examples of interwar architecture, brutalism, department stores, housing estates, and urban complexes such as Baťovany or the Children’s Town complex in Trenčín.
