Prague Expo 58 

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Constructed: 1956-1958

Architects: František Cubr, Josef Hrubý and Zdeněk Pokorný

Former names: Restaurant Brussels Expo 58/Brussels Pavilion/Czechoslovak Pavilion Expo 1958

Genre: Modernist, Communist architecture, former Eastern Bloc 

The building was originally a restaurant and part of the Czechoslovak Pavilion at the 1958 World Exposition held in Brussels. The pavilion won several awards at the exhibition, including the World Fair’s highest accolade, the Golden Star.

After the exposition, the structures were dismantled and transported back to Prague. The main pavilion was re-erected in the city’s Julius Fučík Park of Culture and Leisure (now the Prague Exhibition Grounds) but burnt down in a fire in October 1991 and was later demolished.

The restaurant was rebuilt in Letná park and served as such for a number of years until eventually it fell into decline in the late 1980s. The interior of the building was also gutted by fire in 1991. The structure was given a new lease of life by media agency Euro RSCG (now Havas Prague) who renovated the former restaurant in the early 2000s and used it as their office until 2020. The building is now occupied by an auction house and gallery and there is a small cafe on the lower level. It has been listed as a Cultural Monument since 1964.