Mapa tří živlů - těžní věže, tovární komíny a věžové vodojemy ostravsko-karvinského revíru

On Monday, December 20, 2021, at 6:00 PM, a new map created by the Antiques and Fiducia Club will be unveiled at the premises of the Ostrava New Steelworks (Liberty). It is titled Map of the Three Elements – Mining Towers, Industrial Chimneys, and Tower Water Tanks of the Ostrava-Karviná Region and will present some of the most dominant types of buildings, many of which have not yet been documented in a comprehensive and extensive manner, or described in one place. The synthesis of existing data and the research team's own investigations has resulted in a map that collectively presents valuable structures of mining towers, industrial chimneys, and tower water tanks of the Ostrava-Karviná Region, often with architectural, technological, historical, or technical significance. The research team (Michal Horáček, Robert Koříněk, Radim Kravčík, and Martin Vonka) has come across new findings in several cases, following months of archival research – for instance, archival surveys allowed us to discover a whole range of long-lost and forgotten tower water tanks, which belong to some of the most interesting structures of their kind in our country in many respects and parameters. In the map, you will also find new insights into the collection of reinforced concrete block chimneys (specifically at the Hlubina Mine, the Karolina Coke Plant, and the blast furnace coke plant of the Vítkovice Ironworks), obtained through archival research specifically for the map's documentation.
The map, published by the Antiques and Fiducia Club and made possible thanks to the financial support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Statutory City of Ostrava, and the Foundation of Czech Architecture, depicts objects located in part of the Ostrava-Karviná mining area. In defining its boundaries, we based our work on the limits of the extraction areas of the Ostrava and Karviná coal mines. In a few rare cases (unique or interesting structures), we took the liberty of excursions beyond these boundaries. The map primarily shows standing objects, but in justified cases, it also includes demolished structures.
Included are current photographs of the objects taken by photographer Roman Polášek – some objects are not publicly accessible, and it was necessary to arrange special permissions for their photography. We would like to deeply thank all the owners of the photographed objects for their willingness.
The map is intended to help the general public navigate the buildings of a specific industrial heritage, to popularize them, reveal their values, and stimulate interest in them as valuable, often architecturally attractive industrial dominants of the area, and to increase tourism in the Ostrava region.
NOTE: Registration is required for the map unveiling at tel: 596117312 (Mon-Fri 10 AM - 6 PM), or in person at the Fiducia Antiques.
If you would like to gift the map for Christmas, it will be available at the unveiling, and subsequently from December 21 to 23 for personal pickup at the Fiducia Antiques (10 AM - 6 PM). The price will be 70 CZK.
After Christmas, you will also be able to order it on the Fiducia Club website, and from the New Year, you will find it not only at the Fiducia Antiques but also at OSTRAVAINFO!!! We will also try to arrange a sales location in Karviná; we will inform you in a timely manner about the possibility of purchasing the map in Karviná. Thank you for your understanding.

MAP AUTHOR TEAM:
experts on industrial chimneys
Ing. Martin Vonka PhD. – CTU
Mgr. Michal Horáček – CTU
expert on tower water tanks
Ing. Robert Koříněk PhD. – Research Institute for Water Management T. G. Masaryk
expert on mining towers
Mgr. Radim Kravčík – S.O.S. Karviná association
Photodocumentation: photographer Ing. Roman Polášek, who has long been engaged in photographing architecture (collaborates on books and projects with NPÚ, Ostrava theaters, the Fiducia association, etc.).
Graphic design and typesetting: Kristína Pupáková
Foreword: Pavel Hruška
Editors: Ilona Rozehnalová, Martina Horáčková, and Michal Horáček.
We thank Miloš Matěj, head of the Methodical Center for Industrial Heritage of NPÚ, archivist Martin Juřic from the Archive of the City of Ostrava, Barbora Černá Dvořáková from Liberty, and Martin Adamec from Ostrava University for their assistance.

From the foreword by Pavel Hruška:
Chimney. Mining tower. Water tank. Signs of human presence in the landscape, well-visible landmarks from a distance, and contradictory messages about how humanity inhabits the world. From a bird's-eye perspective, mere "sticks", from a purely human viewpoint, unmistakable dominants of the wide surroundings. Monumental structures that seemingly manifest the age-old fate of humankind, struggling against the forces of nature while making use of all its skills and ingenuity. The Ostrava-Karviná region is undoubtedly an area where one can still hear the raw voice of nature in its original and unmitigated form. Or – considering the current transformations of this region – at least hear echoes of its (still very penetrating) past. The mining towers, tower water tanks, and industrial chimneys of various sizes here are essentially symbols of these elemental energies and forces, and a lasting reminder of the significant role they have played in the lives of local people.
These "transcendents" rising above the surrounding landscape as beacons of heavy and considerably ruthless industry are a visual embodiment of both the good and bad sides of our nature – they equally suggest admiration and respect for the limitless possibilities of the human mind and its imagination, as well as revulsion towards the sovereignly arrogant and disdainful self-centeredness of the species homo sapiens. But they too have their (perhaps somewhat cold and unspectacular) beauty and history, more or less striking elegance and charm (for some, even a captivating enchantment!) and evoke various emotions, often intense and contradictory. Over time, as they age, they take on more compassionate forms, their later visage is often kinder and less threatening than that of their young and fresh selves, and they become increasingly sympathetic. Even after the end of their active lives, they have every right to their own existence and to something like a dignified, meaningful old age – they deserve our attention, perhaps for some unique construction solutions, for engineering wit, for historical value, while functioning as technical monuments and excellent opportunities for new uses. Their thoughtless barbaric destruction would inflict irreparable damage on the urban panoramas and historical memory of places. It is ultimately good that they remain with us, even if they should serve someone other than just humans, or should merely cast patient shadows of mercy onto the landscape...