Osvald Polívka is an architect and co-author of the design of the Municipal House in Prague, which was built between 1906 and 1911 [1]. The Municipal House is a building in the Neo-Baroque and Art Nouveau styles. [1]
Following the competition of 1903, the city council on 14 August 1903 awarded the project to Antonín Balšánek and Polívka. The competition for the Representative House of the Municipality of Prague was announced by the board of city elders on 5 January 1903, and in March 1903 the jury awarded three equal prizes to Antonín Balšánek, Josef Pospíšil and the team of Alois Dryák and Tomáš Amena, after which the subsequent narrower competition among them ended without a result. [1] This had been preceded by a request from the Měšťanská beseda society that Polívka's plan for a concert hall be included in the new building [1]. A fifth, inner wing with the concert hall is inserted between the four wings of the house [1]. The building is of masonry, but metal roof elements and reinforced-concrete elements are also used in its construction. [1]
Polívka also designed the illuminated fountain in the niche of the Municipal House café, in which stands the sculpture Nymph by Josef Pekárek [1]. The façades have stuccoed pilasters with relief medallions in which the sculptors Josef Pekárek, Augustin Zoula, Josef Pikart and Antonín Štrunc depicted types of Czech folk costume. [1]