Enlightenment, culture, leisure: Houses of culture in Czechoslovakia

Enlightenment, culture, leisure: Houses of culture in Czechoslovakia examines the creation of a network of houses of culture during the period of state socialism in the Czechoslovakia. As places of public life, these buildings enjoyed generous economic, political and legislative support. In addition to their specific typology, the book looks also at the educational and emancipatory potential of houses of culture and their role in the organisation of leisure time. It takes in the precursors of this type of building dating from the 19th century, as well as overlaps in to the period after 1989. The texts are complemented by a series of photographs by Oskar Helcel and Martin Netočný.