An international jury led by the renowned German architect Stefan Behnisch has selected the winning teams of four architectural competitions for the revitalization of brownfield sites and the construction of new urban blocks in Prague's Florence district. 157 studios from 33 countries in Europe, America and Asia entered the competition. The jury includes representatives of the capital city and the Prague 1 and 8 districts. This year, the teams will participate in three competitive workshops. The winners, who will give the modern and green district a concrete shape, should be announced this autumn.
Transformation of the largest brownfield in the centre of Prague
The Florenc21 project is an ambitious plan to revitalise and transform the Florenc area in Prague, which is currently the largest brownfield site in the city centre. The site is located approximately 1,000 metres east of Old Town Square on the border of Nové Město (Prague 1) and Karlín (Prague 8).
The process of parallel architectural competitions is a continuation of the Florenc21 urban design competition workshop held four years ago. The aim was to find a suitable urban solution for the whole area. The winning urban design by the team of UNIT architects, A69 architects and Marko & Placemakers defined the streets, blocks and building heights.
"The Florenc21 urban design workshop was an important breakthrough in the quality of revitalisation of complex Prague sites. The winning urban design succeeded in a global competition and was very well received. The architectural competitions build on this approach," said Petr Hlaváček, Deputy Mayor of the Capital City of Prague for Territorial and Strategic Development.
25 architectural teams will advance to the second round
The jury selected 25 teams for the second round of the competition on the basis of the submitted portfolios with building concepts, reference projects and the experience of the applicants. This year, the teams will participate in three competition workshops to develop their initial concepts into more detailed designs.
In the individual blocks, the world's leading architectural firms and domestic architectural firms have advanced:
- Block B01: CHYBIK+KRISTOF, Barkow Leibinger, querkraft architektur, Kuba & Pilař architects and others
- Block B02: Morris+Company, Baumschlager Eberle Lustenau, Aulík Fišer architects and others
- Block B03: hasscookzemmrich STUDIO2050, AllesWirdGut Architektur, Morris+Company and others
- Block B04: Pelčák and partner architects, Pavel Hnilička Architects+Planners, Baumschlager Eberle and others
"The format of the competition allows the judges and city representatives to follow the process and gives the teams valuable feedback that will help to develop interesting solutions. In my personal experience, this is a very effective way to achieve exceptional results," said architect Stefan Behnisch, chairman of the international jury.
Connecting the city and integrating the arterial road
The new district will partially screen the north-south arterial road, which is a major barrier here. The new development should partially integrate the arterial road, but at the same time leave open the possibility for its future adaptation. The extension of Na Florenci Street towards Karlín will create a new road mainly for pedestrians, which will be able to conveniently pass the main arterial road.
The buildings of the new district will be designed primarily for housing, while the ground floor will provide a number of new establishments for shops and services. The block where the arterial road runs will provide office space. The project also envisions green roofs, new tree plantings and a stormwater management system.
"Florenc is a large brownfield site on the border of the conservation area, it is the inner periphery of the city. The new district will connect the innermost centre, which is alive with business and tourism, with neighbourhoods like Karlín, where it is pleasant to live and work," said David Musil, Country Managing Director of Penta Real Estate for the Czech Republic.
The winning designs for the individual blocks will be presented to the public in autumn 2025. The investor competitions are organised by ONplan.