Gahura Boulevard
Until recently, the lower part of the TGM Square was just a grassy area with overgrown bushes. Today, it is the jewel of Zlín. The Gahura Boulevard, revitalised by Zlín-based ellement architects studio in 2013, is once again a place to rest and stop on the way to or from the city. It thus serves exactly the purpose intended by the Bata architect František Lýdie Gahura for this place.
The Gahura Boulevard, or today´s TGM Square, was designed as a green compositional axis of the city centre, flanked by dormitories and schools. Its purpose was simple – it was to serve as a resting and meeting place for the workers from the factory that grew just a few dozen metres away. Gahura, who was well aware of the issues of planned cities and functionalist architecture, designed it as a green belt which was to flow freely into the forest in its upper part and in the lower part to connect with the city parks of Zlín.
When Tomas Bata died in a plane crash in 1932, Gahura designed a unique glass Memorial at the top of the boulevard which symbolically crowned the whole area. Despite partial modifications during the 1970s, the green heart of modern Zlín remained practically in its original form, while the Memorial suffered from inappropriate interventions in 1954.
Today, the Gahura Boulevard with the Memorial is one of the most elegant parts of Zlín. The Memorial has been renovated and cleansed of internal and external additions. The Gahura Boulevard was revitalised smartly and playfully by Jitka Ressová, Jan Pavézka and Hana Maršíková. White concrete pathways with seating platforms were built between grassy areas, whose curves invite you to sit or lie down for a while. Looking at it from the city, you won't even notice the pathways. Yet, they are an important link between the newly renovated Department Store and Eva Jiřičná´s buildings of the Tomas Bata University and the Congress Centre built on the site of the former Masaryk Schools.
Even today, the boulevard is a place where dozens of students chill out during the day, people play with their children or sit on the platforms to rest on their way home from shopping. František Lýdie Gahura would be proud of its present form.
Where next
- The aArchitektura association is based in the office of the ellement architects studio where you'll also find the Infopoint of Bata housing. You can learn all about Bata houses there.
- Don't forget to complete your walk along the Gahura Boulevard with a visit to the Tomas Bata Memorial.
