The most elegant of Nové Město’s many shopping arcades runs through the art-nouveau Lucerna Palace (1920), between Štěpánská and Vodičkova streets. The complex was designed by Václav Havel (grandfather of the former president), and is still partially owned by the family. It includes theatres, a cinema, shops, a rock club and several cafes and restaurants.
In the marbled atrium hangs artist David Černý’s sculpture Kun (Horse ), a wryly amusing counterpart to the equestrian statue of St Wenceslas in Wenceslas Square. Here St Wenceslas sits astride a horse that is decidedly dead; Černý never comments on the meaning of his works, but it’s safe to assume that this Wenceslas (Václav in Czech) is a reference to Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013.
The neighbouring Novák Arcade , connected to the Lucerna and riddled by a maze of passages, has one of Prague’s finest art-nouveau facades (overlooking Vodičkova), complete with mosaics of country life.
