Editing Panelák (section)

{{short description|Colloquial term in Czech and Slovak for a panel building}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2010}}

[[Image:Paneláky Košík.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Prague]]-[[Hostivař]], the Košík housing estate]]

'''Panelák'''{{Efn|{{IPA|cs|ˈpanɛlaːk|lang}} {{IPA|sk|ˈpanɛlaːk|lang}}}} is a [[colloquial]] term in [[Czech language|Czech]] and [[Slovak language|Slovak]] for a [[Large panel system-building|large panel system]] [[panel building]] constructed of pre-fabricated, [[pre-stressed concrete]], such as those extant in the former [[Socialist Republic of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovakia]] (now the [[Czech Republic]] & [[Slovakia]]) and elsewhere in the world. Paneláks are usually grouped together, creating a [[housing estate]] ({{Langx|cs|sídliště|links=no}}, {{Langx|sk|[[sídlisko]]|links=no}}).

[[File:Paneláky.jpg|thumb|Panel houses in the Prague housing estate [[Řepy]].]]

{{lang|cs|Panelák}} (plural: {{lang|cs|paneláky}}) is derived from the standard {{lang|cs|panelový dům}} {{In lang|cs}} or {{lang|cs|panelový dom}} {{In lang|sk}} meaning, literally, "panel house / prefabricated-sections house". The term ''panelák'' is used mainly for the elongated blocks with more sections with separate entrances – simple panel [[tower block]]s are called {{lang|cs|věžový dům}} (tower house) or colloquially {{lang|cs|věžák}} {{In lang|cs}}. The buildings remain a towering, highly visible reminder of the [[Communist era of Czechoslovakia|Communist era]]. The term ''panelák'' refers specifically to buildings in the former Czechoslovakia, however, similar buildings were a common feature of [[urban planning in communist countries]] and even in the West.