Hurry up- the international Prague design contest is starting

The Prague Conference Center has declared a prize winning international competition in the field of urban architecture. The Conference Center in Prague was opened in – 1981 and renovated in – 1999 so that it can currently contain around 9,500 people. The competition is open to architects, urban designers and other linked professionals from around the world. They are all invited to submit proposals that will relate to two topics:

• 1. Expanding the Prague Conference Center to a new wing and display areas.

  2. The creation of new public spaces adapted to the 21st century in the Pankrác square and its environs.

This contest is part of an urban project to the sum of some 3 billion Czech Korunas. The contest consists of two stages: in the first stage a new conference hall will be built, the Magistrálaa street will be renovated, the integration of the conference hall with existing urban infrastructure will be improved and the gardening in the area of the Nusle Valley renovated. The second integration will include additional development options in accordance to the forming urban zoning and design plan. In fact, the expansion of the Prague Conference Center will form a basis for future urban infrastructure and will be used for a high quality public space in the upcoming years. All of the involved see this contest as a chance for urban improvement and not merely a large - scale renovation.

The contest includes two stages and the target date for the submission of first round requests is the 17.3.2017. A visit to the site will be performed by the contest organizers on the – 20.1.2017 for the judges of the contest, local and international architects, representatives of the Prague Conference Center and municipal representatives. The results of the first round shall be announced without knowledge of the identity of the participants in both English and Czech. The six top scoring contestents of the first round shall participate in the second round (which will be concluded on the 30.6.2017). the four best offers will win prizes: first place will win a million Czech Korunas and the other three shall jointly receive 2 million Korunas. All finalists will be eligible to submit proposals for the entire municipal project.

The manager of the Prague Conference Center, Roman Ray Starov, views the contest as a means of identifying a flexible, sustainable and high quality solution to the Prague Conference Center in the architectural, municipal and public spheres: “we do not want a larger Prague Conference Center that will just waste money. Rather, we want an enlarged Prague Conference Center that will enable a variety of new cultural and educational activities. A larger center will provide the city with new business and economic opportunities, particularly for the Prague 4 Zone will the Prague Conference Center is located”. The chairman of the Prague Conference Center Radim Haluza also supports this opinion: “ We expect the new expansion to be suitable for the environment and impact the Prague 4 region and the entire city. That is why we don’t want to build a mono – purpose conference hall but multipurpose spaces that will be appropriate for the 21st century”.

The Mayor of Prague, Adriana Krnáčová, sees an expansion of the center as an international option: “The Prague Conference Center does not fulfill its potential and its expansion will enable competition with similar centers in Vienna, Berlin and Munich”. Starov : “ When someone is looking for a conference center he usually selects one in Vienna, Berlin or Paris and we therefore require an expansion that will enable the conduction of displays that are not possible today. Vladimír Tesař, a member of the “Friends of the Prague Conference Center Society” said : “the expansion of the display area will enable the Prague Conference Center to achieve two parallel goals: to situate itself at the top ranking of conference centers in Europe and to bring large European displays back to the City of Prague”.

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