Ještěd Tower
[2] The hyperboloid shape was chosen since it naturally extends the silhouette of the hill and, moreover, resists the extreme climate conditions on the summit of Mount Ještěd.
[4] After the existing Ještěd lodge burned down in January 1963, a decision was made by Restaurace Liberec (the company that used to manage the burned-down lodges) and the Prague Radio Communications Administration to build a new complex on the summit of Mount Ještěd, which would accommodate a mountain hotel including a restaurant and at the same time would serve as a TV signal transmitter.
[5] Eleven architects/teams took part in the competition, including individual architects Otakar Binar, Jiří Svoboda, Pavel Švancer, Ota Nykodým, Karel Hubáček, Jaromír Syrovátko, Miroslav Ulmann, Jaromír Vacek and teams Josef Patrný - Jiří Hubka - V. Netolička, Miloš Technik and Svatopluk Technik.
The jury (aka the council of Liberec district national committee) on its 22 April 1963 meeting chose Hubáček's proposal as the winner.
[6] The building design created some technical problems for Hubáček and his team due to the climate conditions at the summit of Mount Ještěd.
[7] Some elements (such as the laminated cladding, the special pendulum or the transverse tuned mass damper) introduced by Zdeněk Patrman in collaboration with the academy experts have since been included in other structures (e.g. the Cukrák transmitter tower).
[10] The laminate support cylinder (diameter of 1.90 m and a wall thickness of 16 to 12 mm) attached to it originally had a length of 17.52 m which was extended another 3 metres during the 1997 reconstruction.
There is a specially developed laminated cladding in the shape of a revolving hyperboloid[2] shielding against extreme weather conditions.
On the eighth and ninth floors the architect placed drinking water tanks and a backup battery power supply.
The building cover is made of trapezoid-shaped laminated panels, which are not joined by any metal elements, as these would prevent the passage of electromagnetic waves.
The upper side of the elevator machine room on the tenth floor is fitted with a welded steel tube, which forms a 48 meter high antenna mast.
On top of the extension there is a steel lid, on which an annular pendulum weighing 800 kg is suspended by means of dampers.
Glass makers Stanislav Libenský and his partner Jaroslava Brychtová also participated in the interior furnishing.
The staircase walls and the hotel corridors are lined with ceramic tiles designed by Děvana Mírová.
In connection with the broadcasting digitization in the Czech Republic, in June 2009, the antenna systems in the laminate extension were updated.
[15] In 1964, the Association of Architects of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic awarded the Ještěd Tower design on its annual Architectural Works 1962–63 exhibit.
In spring of 1969, at a time when the building had not yet been completed, Karel Hubáček was awarded the Auguste Perret Prize for the creative use of technology in architecture by the International Union of Architects.
The building is featured in the Czech movie Grandhotel based on the eponymous book by Jaroslav Rudiš.
