TITLE: Cathedral of Water – Stará Čistírna

Beneath Prague’s streets lies a forgotten masterpiece of engineering and architecture: Stará Čistírna, the Old Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Built at the dawn of the 20th century, when industrial optimism met the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, the plant embodies a union of function and beauty. With its soaring brick vaults, egg-shaped sewer tunnels, and monumental pumping halls, it is a cathedral devoted to hygiene and human ingenuity.

In this photographic project, I wanted to capture both the grandeur and the intimacy of Stará Čistírna—the monumental spaces as well as the hidden corridors and silent machines. I worked in black and white to emphasize form, texture, and light, drawing on the long tradition of photographic interpretation rather than documentation.

Walking alone through the abandoned spaces was both eerie and uplifting. Echoes of past efforts, the clarity of the brickwork, and the shafts of light breaking through high windows all spoke of a time when engineering was not only necessity but also belief: a belief that design, craftsmanship, and science could solve humanity’s greatest challenges.

This series is my tribute to a forgotten place where art and industry once stood side by side.

AUTHOR: Björn Andersson (Sweden)