Art-architectural design of the Forum Hotel forecourt

By setting Forum Hotel (currently, Crowne Plaza Hotel) back from Obchodná Street, a space was created that designers modified into a piazzetta. They further separated it from the side streets by partially lowering the ground and introducing planting and a stepped seating area. Their architectural-urban interventions thereby created a small square with the character of an enclosed garden, providing a quiet seating spot amidst the bustle of the city centre. In summer, the space was to serve as a terrace for the hotel’s restaurant. 

The area is artistically embellished with six decorative columns, angled at the top, arranged in ascending order. The crown of the tallest column was inspired by ancient morphology, and flat stone cladding echoing the rectangular pattern and colouring of the façade replaced traditional cannelure on the shafts. The purposefully fragmented colonnade serves as a symbolic reminder of the ruins of Rome, and location on the square evokes the Roman Forum, to which the hotel's name also referred. Eclecticism and a predilection for historicising forms stemmed from the contemporary turn towards postmodernism, which also largely influenced the hotel’s architectural design. 

The square also features the cornerstone of the Forum Hotel and a drinking fountain by Jozef Barinka. 

The hotel was built between 1986 and 1989 in the area bounded by Poštová, Obchodná, Drevená streets and Peace Square (today, Hodža Square), according to a design by a collective of authors (Julián Hauskrecht, Štefan Ďurkovič, Boris Džadoň, Juraj Hermann, Dušan Krepop, Ján Polášek, and Pavel Suchánek). Completion of the hotel was originally intended to be part of a larger complex reconstruction of the block from Poštová Street towards Hurban Square. This ambitious project was ultimately abandoned, and the Forum Hotel building stands in isolation.

NB

Research status as of 30. 06. 2023.


Type

Material

stone

Technique

carving, cladding

Dimensions

unidentified

Inscription

none

Condition

  • preserved, not maintained

Registration

  • Located in Monument Zone Central Urban Area, Bratislava.

Owner

  • DIAMOND HOTELS SLOVAKIA, s. r. o

Administrator

  • unidentified

Address

Obchodná 6700/11

Location details

forecourt of the Crowne Plaza Hotel entrance from the direction of Obchodná Street

Plot number

8328/1

GPS

48.1471470, 17.1088560

Other works in the area

Forum Hotel Cornerstone

Juraj Gavula 1988

First Post Box

Ladislav Sabo 2001

Drinking Fountain by Forum Hotel

Jozef Barinka 1988

World Postman Fountain

Martin Lettrich 2001