In 2022, the largest cultural and social facility in Slovakia, an icon of post-war modernism, was demolished at Trnavské Mýto in Bratislava. This building had served for barely 40 years, and authorities were considering its designation as a national cultural monument. How was it possible that it was demolished without approval for a new investment plan? The book by Henrieta Moravčíková and Peter Szalay analyzes the creation and demise of the House of Trade Unions, Technology, and Culture — renamed Istropolis in 1990. The book is accompanied by photographs from all stages of Istropolis’s existence. Ľubo Stacho photographed the opening in 1981, Hertha Hurnaus captured the utopia in 2004, Olja Triaška Stefanović documented the decay from 2018 to 2021, and Matej Hakár captured the demolition in 2022.

Texts: Henrieta Moravčíková, Peter Szalay
Photographs: Ľubo Stacho, Hertha Hurnaus, Olja Triaška, Matej Hakár
Book Design: Ľubica Segečová
Timeline: Monika Bočková, Henrieta Moravčíková, Peter Szalay, Laura Krišteková, Katarína Haberlandová
Reviewers: Rostislav Švácha, Matúš Dulla
Editorial Support: Martin Lipták, Michal Tornyai
Editorial Revision: Nataša Holinová, Martin Lipták
English Translation: Jonathan Gresty
Print Run: 2200 copies
Number of Pages: 240
Printing and Binding: Protisk, České Budějovice
Font: Monument Grotesk
Papers: Arctic Volume White, Munken Lynx, Pop‘Set Extra Black, Symbol Freelife Raster
Dimensions: 24 × 33.3 × 1.8 cm
Publisher