Today, J&T Banka inaugurated and unveiled the renovated famous Elektra Café. Starting tomorrow, Ostrava residents can visit the new café in the J&T Banka Café chain, which was created on the premises of the defunct First Czechoslovak Republic café.
“I am very glad that we were able to finish the total reconstruction of this significant Ostrava café on time and return its much deserved lustre to it. The unique concept of a bank-café, which combines the world of finance and the elegant and architecturally interesting café, gives the Elektra a whole new dimension and brings it into the 21st century. I believe we have managed to create a place that will be a sought-after location for social elites, as it was in the past,” says Ivo Enenkl, J&T BANKA Director in Ostrava.
The total reconstruction, which took place in cooperation with conservationists and the town of Ostrava starting in the spring of this year, was based on the former architectural style of the café and exploited the generous space with arcades. This gave the Elektra an entirely new character, oscillating between art deco and individualistic to functional styles leaning towards modern. “Everything is supposed to resemble a First Czechoslovak Republic atmosphere transported to the 21st century, and unobtrusively offer a high standard,” explains architect Petr Hrůša. Rare and precious materials are utilized in the interior, which add to the atmosphere of the café and give it its well-deserved lustre. Materials worth mentioning are the compact material “white glass” on the bar, the white-grey floor made of cast terrazzo with white marble pebbles, the glass soffits evocative of the lighting of bars and clubs in the interwar period, and the several types of wood (plum, East Indian rosewood, merbau, and pear) decorating the space behind the bar, creatively created on the principle of op-art.
“The interior should be exalted not only due to the original details such as the inspired railing on the arcades or the generous, large glazed arched windows, but primarily due to the 25-metre ceiling relief made of folded gold petals,” adds Hrůša.
The gold relief is not the only work of art that can be found in the café. Thanks to the partnership of J&T BANKA and the House of Art, visitors to the Elektra Café can see artistic treasures that were held in depositories for a long time and waiting for a suitable place to be displayed. Every 6 months the exhibited works will vary, so there will always be something to see. The exhibited works will include the works of the painters: František Tichý, Otakar Nejedlý, Václav Špála, Karel Černý, Bedřich Dlouhý, and Otakar Kubína, and the sculptors: Ladislav Beneš, Jaroslav Horejc, Ladislav Zívr, Otto Gutfreund, August Handzel, Rudolf Kedl, and Vladimír Janoušek.
The Elektra, which in Ostrava one hundred years ago served as an enjoyable café for the working class, established by miners, today will offer a pleasant festive café atmosphere for the general public, social elites and J&T clients, who can also take care of all of their banking transactions.