Hotel Ještěd

A Space Age hotel and restaurant on top of a mountain.

Atop a mountain, overlooking the small town of Liberec in the hills of the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, rests a unique piece of space age architecture. Hotel Ještěd was designed by architect Karel Hubáček in the mid 60's and was opened in 1968. The hotel and restaurant are housed inside a 92 meter (300 feet) tower made of steel reinforced concrete. The shape of the tower is that of a hyperboloid and is naturally suited to the site. Designed and built amid the American-Soviet Space Race, the Hotel Ještěd stands as a testament to humankind's once positive outlook of the future where technology innovation would lift all of humanity up.

This tower was brought to our attention, of all things, by a hysterically funny commercial aired during Super Bowl XLV where exterior shots of the hotel were used to depict the headquarters of the fictitious Ministry of Detourism.

For his design, Karel Hubáček was awarded the 1969 International Union of Architects (UIA) Auguste Perret Prize. Other recipients of this award have included Frei Otto, Santiago Calatrava, Sir Norman Foster and Arthur Erickson. 

A monumental circular staircase in the hotel lobby:

Restaurant located atop the monumental staircase:

Mod seating hanging from the ceiling:

 Exterior glazing is reminiscent of portholes on a space ship:

 This view shows how the hyperbolic shape of the tower is a natural extension of the graceful lines of the mountain top: