High-tech handmade. The Government Lounge at Bratislava Airport

The 1970s saw a significant boom in the field of interior design in Slovakia. Architects sought inspiration in technological progress, which led to the so-called ‘high-tech’ style. These tendencies were expressed most clearly by Vojtech Vilhan (1925–88) and Ján Bahna (b. 1944) in the interior design of the Government Lounge at Bratislava Airport, built from 1972 to 1974. Its form was particularly influenced by the fact that this prominent interior, intended for receiving official visitors, had to be integrated into an older building. The architects had to work with an inconvenient layout and cramped spaces, into which they had to instil a modern image and a feeling of spaciousness. The solution turned out to be a completely new system of walls that blended smoothly with the ceiling and floors, resulting in a unified space evoking a sense of boundless volumes. The choice of materials, with Vilhan selecting modern materials such as the stainless steel that covered the interior walls, is a special focus of the work. The wooden relief walls by sculptor Vladimír Kompánek (1927–2011) then created a contrast to the technological quality of the interior. But the problems faced by Vilhan and Bahna during the realization of the Government Lounge project also need to be mentioned. The early 1970s saw a shortage of building materials and design architectural elements, which led to a paradoxical situation at the Government Lounge: nearly all the high-tech details and atypical elements of this futuristic interior were, in fact, made by hand at the Center for Arts and Crafts in Bratislava. Despite the Government Lounge being highly admired in professional circles, at the end of 2014 a decision was made to liquidate it. A campaign to save this unique interior was then taken up by the Slovak Design Center, where it is now deposited. As a result, the Government Lounge, unlike many other interiors now lost for good, has been preserved in all its complexity for future generations.