The gilded spherical clock and the world timetable in ten metropolises, located on the unique plastic by artist Rudolf Svoboda at the Florenc metro station in Prague 8, are again in operation. They started running yesterday after a reconstruction that took three years.
The director of the company Technology of the Capital City of Prague, Tomáš Jílek, reminded that it was not possible to preserve the work in its original technical execution. The twelve-meter steel structure degraded so massively that there was a threat of falling. Therefore, a successful replica treated with special paint against spray creations stands in the area.
The reconstruction of approximately two million crowns began in the summer of 2020. A replica was created in the Lang locksmith’s shop. “What is more interesting is that the clocks were repaired by the same company that once produced them, the Prague company Elektročas. But no one who could restore them was already working in it, so they had to call a veteran from their ranks who knew what to do,” said Prague councilor Michal Hroza (TOP 09) on the spot.
According to him, the clocks are among the rarest of those cared for by the company Technology of the Capital City of Prague. And there are about five hundred of them. “Because they show world time in ten metropolises, and it is also a work of art from 1985 when many people who did not have it easy in the art world ran into public space,” he stated.
The initiator of the renovation of the work, which comes from the era of brutalism, was the Town Hall of the eighth part. Deputy Mayor Tomáš Hřebík (STAN) reminded that several investment plans are being prepared for the future at the place, but developers should incorporate them into their projects. Councilor Tomáš Slabihoudek (TOP 09) added that the slope was changed during the reconstruction of the area, so water should no longer flow into the structure.
The clocks appeared on the spot a month and a half ago. “We solved that the granite stones in the square corresponded to the state they originally were in. But after breaking the stone, we discovered that the quality was not what we wanted. Hence, we had to wait for the extraction of a new one,” explained the vice-chairman of the board of the company Technology of the Capital City of Prague, Tomáš Novotný, the reason for the delay in the ceremonial launch of the operation.