address
architect
interior
project and realization
restoration
restoration
Štúrova 5 – 7, Bratislava
Alexander Skutecký
Marta Pisončíková
1921 – 1923
Ján Bahna a kol.
1996

For the plot at the corner of ul. Štúrova and ul. Grösslingova, several different architects prepared designs, among them Dušan Jurkovič, whose perspective elevation for the corner site (1922) was published by F. Žákavec, and likely also Jiří Kroha, from whom we know of a Cubist elevation for the longer of the street facades (1923). However, the design actually realised was that of Alexander Skutecký. Nonetheless, even his design originally had the bank located on a larger parcel of land; the design was only finished in the 1940s by the bank Union banka. On the ground floor, in the wing facing ul. Štúrova, Skutecký situated the counter hall, with an upper gallery and three-part staircase. The other five floors, including the attic, were occupied by the bank’s offices. The building was conceived in a Classical spirit, with a balanced facade composition and a harmonic treatment of the corner, which is in fact the building’s true entrance facade. Above the entrance is a balcony with a balustrade, supporting two figural sculptures. On the facade facing ul. Štúrova are high Doric columns in the parterre, topped with a simple cornice with meandering ornament. Enlivened with medallions and portraits, the facade ends in a frieze and cornice. The covering of the facade is of regularly dressed stone, further underscoring its ties to classical form. 

Literature:
FOLTYN, Ladislav: Slovenská architektúra 1918 – 1939 a česká avantgarda. Bratislava, SAS 1993, 238 p., p. 48 a 61.
DULLA, Matúš – MORAVČÍKOVÁ, Henrieta: Architektúra Slovenska v 20. storočí. Bratislava, Slovart 2002. 512 p., p. 62, 331.

Source of pictures: 
Archive of the City of Bratislava