Barrandov

Brief Information

Barrandov received its new name before it became a recognizable image of Prague: until 1928, this area was called Habrová, and then it was named after the researcher Joachim Barrande. The main feature of the district is the sharp contrast between “old” Barrandov and later residential development: new Barrandov is described as a residential district of modern construction, while old Barrandov is associated with villas, terraces, the cliff, and cinema.

The idea of the 1920s was very specific: to create a modern environment here for the affluent, educated middle class. That is why Barrandov reads not only as a district on the left bank of the Vltava, but as a place where prestige was expressed through functionalist villas, a restaurant on the cliff, and a specially designed film studio.

What to Notice Right Away

It makes sense to compare the three physical anchors of old Barrandov: the cliff above the Vltava, the Barrandov Terraces, and the film studio. The Terraces were conceived on the model of San Francisco’s Cliff House restaurant above the rocks; in the Prague version, the ocean view was replaced by the Vltava River. This detail explains why the restaurant became not just an establishment, but part of the staging of the place: the height, the cliff edge, and the view worked together.

The second focus is the film studio. Its grounds included sound stages, costume and set workshops, and prop warehouses. This is not an ordinary urban quarter, but a district where the architecture took film production into account from the outset. Alongside this, it is worth keeping in mind the villas of old Barrandov: they continued the same project of modernity, but on a residential scale. In this way, the district reveals itself through different forms of one idea: to live, relax, and make films in a new, carefully designed environment.