Passages: Shade under a glass roof

Prague’s passages (“pasáže”) represent the most recent layer of “cooling infrastructure”. They emerged primarily from the late 19th century onward as a response to the densification of the city center and the transformation of metropolitan traffic, when it was necessary to maintain the permeability of historic blocks without disrupting them. From an urban planning perspective, they created a second network of publicly accessible routes hidden inside buildings. In this regard, Prague has one of the densest networks of passages in Central Europe, particularly in the core area between Wenceslas Square and Národní Street, where even today one can walk the entire stretch with almost no contact with the street. Here, Renaissance palace courtyards (Platýz), Art Nouveau arcades (Světozor, Černá růže), and the early-modern Lucerna coexist side by side. The concept of walk-through blocks also appears in contemporary Prague, for example at Masaryčka, where a system of public passageways continues the historical tradition of a permeable city.

Arcades: The medieval response to summer heat

An even older manifestation of this spatial logic is the arcades (“podloubí”), which for centuries were a common feature of city centers. They were not created as a measure to combat the heat, but as an extension of the street level for commerce and movement, providing a seamless transition between the street and the building. Their more pleasant microclimate is mainly due to shade, less sunlight on the facades, and a massive masonry structure that reacts more slowly to temperature changes. In Prague, they are particularly well-preserved in Malá Strana, for example around Malostranské náměstí or on Nerudova Street, where they form continuous covered sections of public space.

A similar principle can still be seen in Prague today, albeit in a different form. For example, the Bořislavka Centrum complex features covered outdoor spaces and a recessed ground level, creating sheltered areas for movement and gathering. Art in public spaces also plays an important role here, enlivening the ground floors of buildings and reinforcing the character of these semi-public zones. This is not about restoring historic arcades, but about returning to the principle of a transitional space between the street and the building.

Courtyards: Hidden worlds behind the facades

If arcades represent a second layer of streets, courtyards (“nádvoří”) form a second layer of squares. Historic Prague is interwoven with them, yet they remain largely hidden behind street facades. They originated as part of townhouses, palaces, monasteries, and university campuses, and their form gradually evolved from the Middle Ages through the Baroque period. The Karolinum is a compact university courtyard with a clear spatial organization, while the Klementinum, by contrast, is an extensive system of several interconnected courtyards. In the palace architecture of Malá Strana, for example in the vicinity of the Wallenstein Palace, courtyards served as a transition between the bustling street and the representative or private parts of the residence.

Historical courtyards primarily served functional or representative purposes. Contemporary inner courtyards, on the other hand, increasingly serve as recreational spaces featuring greenery, playgrounds, or community gardens. In Vršovice, Holešovice, Letná, and Vinohrady, many courtyards that were originally used for domestic and agricultural purposes have been transformed into semi-public spaces that today form an important part of urban life.

Gardens behind walls: Secret summer retreats

The most sophisticated response to the summer heat was offered by historic gardens hidden within the urban fabric. Particularly on the slopes of Malá Strana, an extraordinary system of palace gardens emerged during the Baroque period, one that treated the terrain, vegetation, and water as architectural tools. The Vrtba and Ledebour Gardens combine terraces, staircases, and mature greenery into a thoughtful composition set apart from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. Moreover, the Vrtba Garden is one of the best-preserved Baroque terraced gardens north of the Alps. The more recent Grébovka Garden functions similarly, where the landscaping utilizes shade, water features, and undulating terrain as fundamental tools for working with the environment.

The importance of urban green spaces is now returning to urban planning considerations. One of the key projects is Maniny Park, part of the development of Rohan Island, which is intended to connect Karlín with the river and become part of a broader green belt along the Vltava. The park is part of the planned Rohan City neighborhood and is set to serve as its main public space. New parks and landscaping projects are also emerging in the Bubny-Zátor area and in the planned development of the area around Florenc, where the existing transportation- and industry-oriented character is being transformed into a structure with a greater proportion of green spaces and recreational areas.

Passageways between buildings: The invisible network of old Prague

A less conspicuous yet equally important feature of historic Prague is its network of passageways and carriage entrances linking individual urban blocks. Unlike the city's grand passages, these routes were often created for purely practical purposes. Even so, they formed a dense web of alternative connections that allowed people to move through the city without relying on its main streets. They are clearly visible, for example, around Bethlehem Square, in the Anenská Quarter, or in Malá Strana, where they still reveal the original structure of the lots and inner courtyards. It is precisely in these inconspicuous connecting pathways that one can often better trace the city’s historical development than by looking at street facades.

While these passageways used to emerge organically, today they are becoming a deliberate part of urban design. In projects such as Masaryčka, Rohan City, or Bubny-Zátory, the permeability of city blocks is treated as one of the fundamental principles of planning. It’s not just about shortening routes, but also about creating a more nuanced network of public spaces that provide more shade, greenery, and opportunities for movement away from major traffic arteries. The city’s historical permeability thus serves as inspiration for contemporary planning as well.

Passages, arcades, courtyards, gardens, and passageways were not created as climate measures in today’s sense of the word. Nevertheless, they demonstrate that many of the principles we now consider part of cities’ adaptation to heat were present in historic Prague long before the advent of air conditioning.