The city of Prague and the investor have published five proposals for the completion of Prague's Vítězné náměstí square. An international jury will pick a winner and the public can also play their part.
The fourth quadrant of the square will provide new apartments, offices, much needed civic amenities, and a new cultural centre for Prague 6. The best five designs from the international architecture competition will be displayed at an outdoor exhibition in Vítězné náměstí square itself. Members of the public can comment on the designs, and their comments will be forwarded to the international expert jury before it decides on the winner.
Although the Dejvice district’s urban plan was designed a century ago by Antonín Engel, part of Vítězné náměstí square, the so-called fourth quadrant, remains undeveloped to this day. The investor has agreed with the city of Prague to develop the missing quadrant based on a winning design from an international architecture competition.
Out of a total of 44 teams that entered, five participants made it to the competition final. You can see their designs on the competition website www.4kvadrant.cz or at the open-air exhibition in the square’s fourth quadrant, which ends on 30 June. The public has until 11 June to comment on the individual designs on the competition website.
“As the organiser of such an important competition for the completion of the centre of Dejvice, our goal is to involve the public as much as possible in the search for the most suitable design. Before the competition was announced, both locals and visitors could share their comments on the current state of the quadrant, as well as suggest what could be added. Their input was implemented into the competition requirements. Now, the public's comments on the final designs will be forwarded to the jury as one of the criteria for deciding the winner,” explained Petr Návrat from the planning office OnPlan, the competition’s organiser.
Five architecture teams advanced to the second stage of the competition, including renowned Czech and European studios. They were Dutch studio MVRDV; a Czech-German consortium of Pavel Hnilička Architects+Planners and Baumschlager Eberle Architects; Dutch-Czech studio Benthem Crouwel International and Opočenský Valouch Architekti; Czech studio A69 — architekti; and another Czech-Dutch group, Cityförster and Studio Perspektiv.
The competition’s aim is to find a new design and optimal architectural and urban solutions for the northwestern quadrant of Vítězné náměstí square. The competition is sponsored by Fourth Quadrant, made up of investors Penta Real Estate, Sekyra Group, and Kaprain, and is partly organised by the University of Chemistry and Technology, the city of Prague, the Prague 6 city district, and IPR Praha, while the main organiser is the planning office ONplan.
“The five finalists, consisting of renowned European architectural firms and top Czech teams, submitted remarkably interesting designs. They respect the character imbued into the Dejvice district a century ago by its designer Engel, while also managing to be original, colourful, and in line with contemporary architectural trends. Above all, however, they strive to meet the demands and needs of current Dejvice residents,” says Petr Palička, Penta Real Estate Managing Director.
“We are pleased that Vítězné náměstí square will be completed based on a winning design from an open international architecture competition involving a number of experts, including conservation and urban planning specialists. We believe that the winning design will improve the overall quality of the area. Together with our partners, we want to create an appealing centre for Prague 6, which will attract not only locals, but residents from other Prague districts too,” said Leoš Anderle, Sekyra Group CEO.
“I am thrilled that the investor has chosen to organise a competition and has involved the city of Prague. As is the case with the district of Florenc, I believe that it will improve the overall quality of the city. Personally, I was surprised by how many unique designs the participants were able to fit within the rigid structure of the Dejvice district. Concurrently, the city of Prague is actively preparing for the reconstruction of Vítězné náměstí square itself, as well as the area surrounding the university campus,” says Petr Hlaváček, Deputy Mayor of Prague for urban planning and strategic development.
The fourth quadrant will include a multifunctional building with apartments, offices, shops, services, and restaurants. The University of Chemistry and Technology is also planning to construct a new building on the site. In addition to classrooms and student facilities, there will also be public spaces and a microbrewery.
“The mission of the University of Chemistry and Technology is to support gifted students and train experts, who in turn help our society overcome the key challenges of the day. To continue this into the future, we need a new university building. At the same time, the new building will allow us to expand our range of educational and cultural activities for Prague residents, which will continue to make the Dejvice Campus a pleasant and inspiring meeting point for academics and locals alike,” adds Pavel Matějka, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague.
A new cultural centre for Prague 6 with a total area of up to 3,000 m2 and two halls will be part of the construction, significantly adding to cultural infrastructure in this part of Prague, somewhat lacking before now. This cultural centre will serve as a venue for concerts, exhibitions, plays, as well as social and community events for locals.
“After more than a century, Prague 6 deserves a completed Vítězné náměstí square designed in the spirit of First Republic architect Antonín Engel. Moreover, Prague 6 residents have the chance to comment on the architecture competition finalists’ designs. In addition to interesting architecture, locals can look forward to a new cultural centre and more,” says Jakub Stárek, Mayor of Prague 6.
“The current undeveloped quadrant of Vítězné náměstí square creates a gap in the central part of the city. The new development will provide the public with a full range of quality outdoor and indoor spaces with a host of recreational, cultural, dining, and commercial spots. I am thrilled that Engel's original architectural and urban planning concept will finally be complete, albeit with a contemporary twist. The competition has been organised to a high professional standard, with a wide range of relevant parties invited to be involved. Since it is an open competition, competitors can come up with unexpected ideas, but, at the same time, it is important that they comply with the city’s construction requirements, such as building heights and public space dimensions,” says Ondřej Boháč, Director of IPR Prague.
The winning design, which will determine how the fourth quadrant will look, will be selected by an international jury of architects, urban planners, and landscape architects. The jury chair is Kees Christiaanse, a professor at ETH Zurich and the founder of KCAP, the designers of the famous Hamburg HafenCity district. Jury members include British architect Alex Lifschutz, Swedish landscape architect Martin Arfalk, and Professor Michal Kohout from the Faculty of Architecture at CTU. The awarding body includes representatives of the investor, the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, the Prague 6 city district, the city of Prague, and IPR Prague. The Czech Chamber of Architects awarded the competition a certificate of regularity.
The competition will take the form of a workshop, which allows the jury to directly and continuously discuss the design with the competitors. In addition, the designs are professionally assessed by traffic, sustainable mobility, heritage conservation, and blue-green infrastructure experts. The winner of the architecture competition for the completion of Vítězné náměstí square will be announced in September 2023.
