Works realized in the Czech Republic between 2018 and 2022 could be entered into the ČCA competition show this year. Great emphasis will be placed on the aspect of sustainability of competing works from the point of view of energy savings and on how buildings react to climate changes and work with blue-green infrastructure, they take into account the entire life cycle of the work as well as carbon neutrality, etc.
A large number of school facilities and sports fields appeared in the competition
It is worth mentioning the numerous representation of school facilities of various kinds, the number of which is unmistakable this year – they make up roughly a tenth of the registered implementations. The trend of building the background of football fields, athletics stadiums and other sports areas continues. And not only in big cities.
Attention is also focused more on transport structures, from small municipal bus stops to large bus and rail terminals. There is also an effort to save seemingly insignificant buildings and reconstruct them.
Photo: Archive of the Czech Architecture Prize competition, Vladimíra Kotra
Construction takes a little longer and is often reconstructed
According to the Czech Chamber of Architects, the average duration of construction, from project to completion, is the same as last year, 3 to 4 years, which is a little longer than was common in the first years of the show.
In previous years, new buildings significantly predominated over reconstructions, accounting for up to two thirds of the registered projects. This year, however, the proportion of reconstructions has increased and, considering that some works include both categories, the distribution is almost equal.
Untraditional, playful and open. The new kindergarten in Říčany deviates from the standards
Tips and trends
The work of Czech architects will traditionally be evaluated by seven erudite foreign experts. This year they are the Lithuanian architect Gilma Teodora Gylytėová (from the Do Architects studio), the Swedish architect and urban planner Joakim Lindmarker (from the urban minds studio), the Dutch architect, landscape architect and urban planner Winy Maas (from the MVRDV studio), the Spanish architect Taba Rastiová (working in studio Foster + Partners), Slovak architect Oliver Sadovský (from Sadovsky & Architects studio), Dutch landscape architect Maike van Stiphoutová (from DS landscape architects) and Deyan Sudjic, writer, curator and critic from Great Britain specializing in the field of design and architecture.
An international expert jury will select a shortlist of nominees from the submitted buildings, which will be announced at the nomination evening on June 27. The highest awards, i.e. the CCA finalists and the CCA main prize winner, will then be announced at a gala evening in November. We have selected the already mentioned school facilities for you in the gallery.