District Authority building

Musil’s final major contract for an imposing public building in Jičín was the monumental District Authority building: an extensive building with a cellar, two upper floors and a converted attic floor. The building’s interior is largely offices, but also includes the apartments of the district governor and caretaker. In this case, too, the most conservative of the submitted projects was realised. Here, the architect had to resolve an array of difficulties, foremost of which was dealing with a highly irregular plot. The final plans for the building, with its erratic footprint, were drawn in September 1939. Now, all of the departments making up the authority, previously scattered throughout the town, were gathered together over the building’s four stories.

Heading out of the town centre, we are confronted by the building’s entrance, given an air of monumentality thanks to the small piazzetta, which gently rises to the base of a broad flight of steps leading to the main doors. The building was renovated in … and continues to serve its administrative functions today.

(GA)