Czech morning news roundup: Wednesday, November 10, 2021

An explosion in Zlín’s Náměstí Míru on the top floor of a building facing onto the square shattered glass and led thick black smoke to emerge from a massage parlor located on the premises. It is thought the explosion occurred due to a technical fault in the establishment’s heating system. The incident saw large emergency service intervention.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the explosion either in the building or on the square below, although two police officers had to be treated by medics after inhaling smoke. The incident nonetheless caused significant material damage, according to a police spokesperson, with estimates suggesting CZK 2.5 million worth of damage.

Representatives of the City of Prague will attend the international COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. The summit is organized by the United Nations and involves the participation of countries, cities and other institutions from all over the world.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib will speak at several events, including on the Eurocities panel bringing together representatives of over 200 large cites. He will also speak on a panel focusing on the decarbonization of building heating. On Thursday November 11, a day singled out within the summit program for focus on cities, Prague will present its own climate change plan and offer cooperation with other world cities.

Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has invested over CZK 4.5 billion in the expansion of its Kolín plant for the production of Yaris vehicles, named the Car of the Year 2021. The plant will be the second European location to produce the Yaris alongside Toyota Motor Manufacturing France.

Investment in the plant has seen capacity expanded and three shift operations have been introduced to ramp up Yaris production alongside the introduction of the new Aygo SX in 2022. The plant will also be capable of producing hybrid electric vehicles following the success of the Yaris Hybrid, which now represents 80 percent of European Yaris sales.

This year’s Czech Architecture Award has been awarded to Miroslav Pospíšil and Martin Karlík for their reconstruction of one of the Czech Republic’s largest castles: Helfštýn, in Moravia. The innovative design of the reconstruction makes the castle more explorable and accessible.

The castle is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Olomouc Region, with origins dating back to the late 13th century. It was later partially rebuilt into a Renaissance residence. Shortly after the Thirty Years War, though, it was partly demolished, and remained the two young architects were commissioned by the National Heritage Institute to restore it. Their design respects the castle’s historical features while also incorporating contemporary architectural elements, including glass roofs and the addition of several terraces.

Vandalism on the popular funicular cable car from Újezd to the top of Prague’s Petřín Hill put the funicular out of action for several hours last week. An unknown vandal sprayed graffiti on the cable car, and the incident was reported to police at around 5 o’clock in the morning. Cleaning of the cable car put the funicular out of action for an entire morning. The matter is being treated by police as criminal damage to another’s property, according to a police spokesperson.