Prague’s tallest landmark – and depending on your tastes, either its ugliest or its most futuristic feature – is the 216m-tall TV Tower (towerpark.cz), erected between 1985 and 1992. The tower’s original purpose allegedly was to jam incoming anti-Communist broadcasts from Radio Free Europe and the BBC, but it quickly became obsolete.
The 93m-high observation decks are fitted out with comfortable sofas and futuristic hanging armchairs, with screens showing film clips of the tower's construction. There’s also a cafe, cocktail bar and restaurant at the 66m level, and even a luxury one-room "hotel." Beneath the tower there's a children's park, minigolf and a skating rink in winter.
More eye-catching than its architecture may well be the giant crawling babies that appear to be exploring the outside of the tower – an installation called Miminka (1999) by artist David Černý. Perhaps the installation represents our own childlike dependency on technology?
