Concrete is Beautiful (BETON JE KRASNY)

Concrete is Beautiful (Betón Je Krásny) is a multimedia exploration of Prague's youth and their use of public spaces. This documentary captures the contagious emotion, and passion for these once shameful spaces in interviews with Czech Youth. I was attracted to Stalin Plaza and Vltavska station for similar reasons. Both have dark histories. Vltavská Metro is located next to Praha-Bubny, which was a deportation station for Jews in Prague during WWII. Stalin Plaza had the largest monument dedicated to Joseph Stalin. It was demolished after 7 years because it was an abashment to the Czech Republic.

Since the Velvet Revolution on November 17, 1989, both spaces have been revitalized as symbols of pride and freedom by Czech youth. Stalin Plaza is one of the most famous skateparks in the world while Vltavská attracts free runners from across the globe. Both locations are also under threat of changing with pressure from developers to profit off of the spaces.