Sponsor: The Capital City of Prague
Location: Prague, Czech Republic
Type: Open, international
Language: The competition brief is in both Czech and English, but will be held in Czech only.
Eligibility: Open to all professional teams
Fee: None
Awards:
1st prize 1,000,000 CZK (US $41,161)
2nd prize 600,000 CZK (US $24,696)
3rd prize 350,000 CZK (US $14,406)
Honourable mentions: 50,000 CZK (US $2,058)
Timetable:
25 July 2017 – Registration & submission deadline
Description:
The river is a landscape feature that makes a major contribution to the appearance and character of the city of Prague, while also forming a natural barrier between the two parts of the city lying on opposite banks. Karlín and Holešovice are important city districts that lack good connections between them, especially for pedestrians and cyclists. The new footbridge is intended to create this connection and, from a citywide perspective, to contribute to making the cycle route along the Žižkov–Karlín–Holešovice–Troja axis more compact.
The new footbridge will also be important in opening up access to the Štvanice island, making it a major recreational centre. Štvanice can be accessed by cars via the Hlávkův bridge but this route is not ideal for pedestrians and is a long way for residents of Karlín and Holešovice to walk. Both banks are now connected to the island by ferry.
The idea of building a footbridge over Štvanice has long been a part of the land use plan. An architectural competition was held in 1999 to de ne the appearance of the footbridge. However, a er the oods in 2002, ood protection measures were reinforced. The reason for holding a new competition is primarily that the technical and legislative requirements have changed and the situation on both riverbanks and Štvanice island have deteriorated due to the lack of a footbridge.
The new footbridge would provide convenient and easy access. The most important restrictions on the design are requirements relating to ood protection, water ow and waterway management, the nature of the urban situation on both banks and requirements for wheelchair access to the footbridge.
The footbridge will be located near urban heritage sites – Dejvice, Bubny, upper Holešovice and Karlín – and in the Prague Conservation Area. It will impinge on notable vistas along the Vltava river and run through a regional bio- corridor on the Štvanice island. The design of a new footbridge should therefore emphasise respect for the environment and a minimal impact on the landscape.
When Competitions and a New Generation of Ideas Elevate Architectural Quality
by Jean-Pierre Chupin and G. Stanley Collyer published by Potential Architecture Books, Montreal, Canada 2020 271 illustrations in color and black & white Available in PDF and eBook formats ISBN 9781988962047
What do the Vietnam Memorial, the St. Louis Arch, and the Sydney Opera House have in common? These world renowned landmarks were all designed by architects under the age of 40, and in each case they were selected through open competitions. At their best, design competitions can provide a singular opportunity for young and unknown architects to make their mark on the built environment and launch productive, fruitful careers. But what happens when design competitions are engineered to favor the established and experienced practitioners from the very outset?
This comprehensive new book written by Jean-Pierre Chupin (Canadian Competitions Catalogue) and Stanley Collyer (COMPETITIONS) highlights for the crucial role competitions have played in fostering the careers of young architects, and makes an argument against the trend of invited competitions and RFQs. The authors take an in-depth look at past competitions won by young architects and planners, and survey the state of competitions through the world on a region by region basis. The end result is a compelling argument for an inclusive approach to conducting international design competitions.
Download Young Architects in Competitions for free at the following link:
If one were to search for a railway museum in the U.K., London would seem to be an obvious choice. But, as it happens, its location is in the northeastern city of York, far from the major cultural and economic centers of the country. But despite its distance from the major metropolitan areas to the south and west, York has managed to become the focal point of research into the history of rail in the U.K., supplemented by a major museum. Here we are not just talking about some posters, but sheds replete with a large collection of vintage trains.
Foundation non-profits are no strangers to good architecture. Ford Foundation’s forward-looking headquarters in New York City by Roche Dinkeloo was an early example of a non-profit using architecture as a vehicle for serving to brand it as a progressive institution. In 2001 the California Endowment went one step further, staging an invited competition for their new headquarters in Los Angeles.
Master plans have been around for ages; but master plans for very large cities with all their support systems are relatively new. Milton Keynes (MK), located in Buckinghamshire in southern England, and begun in the late 1960s, is one of the most successful of the new cities, now having a population of almost 250,000. Its success lies mainly on the lessons learned from the establishment of the planning which generated the new towns in the U.K. during the 1940s and 50s, many of which have not fared well in the test of time. MK’s success was based primarily on the careful separation of high density from residential where the influence of the “garden city” could be seen. Here the idea of a live/work environment was even incorporated.
The updating and modernization of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport has been well overdue. Aside from occasional problems caused by Chicago’s winter storms, congestion at the airport has led air travelers to avoid the airport when catching a connecting flight is on the agenda. So Chicago, noted for its modern architecture and the home of several high-profile architecture firms, decided to turn to an invited competition for a solution to these issues.
Competitions in Chicago in the recent past have been anything but encouraging, especially when transparency is an issue. During the competition for the Obama Center on the South Side, the Obama Foundation, which was responsible for the administration of that “competition,” was anything but a model of transparency; and to this day, none of the finalist designs, other than that of the winner, have seen the light of day. In the case of the O’Hare project, videos submitted by the five finalists teams were on public display, and the public was even asked to vote for their favorite.
In these times when political emotions run high and gun violence is the norm, not the exception; and when emotions no longer are held in check, but encouraged by our leaders, minorities become easy targets for those who adhere to ideologies based primarily on exclusivity and hate.
The LGBT community has long been the target of various segments of our society; but the massacre that took place at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, a favorite hangout for gays, elevated this phenomenon to a new level. After an event that claimed the lives of 49 victims, injured 68 others, and left hundreds permanently traumatized, it should come as no surprise that a memorial to this tragedy has been front and center in the minds of the community ever since. Because the very nature of this event has drawn nationwide attention, the community wanted to get it right. So it was only logical that they would turn to a competition as the most viable vehicle for arriving at a solution for the design of a memorial, as well as a museum. For this, the onePULSE Foundation was formed, to memorialize this tragedy and “ensure that Pulse”s legacy of love, acceptance and hope will never be lost.”
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