Summer cinema Háječek

We are opening the summer cinema Háječek. We are fundamentally changing the appearance of the area that has been enclosed by a high fence for most of the year. We are connecting it with the surrounding park. We are restoring the integrity and atmosphere of a park where there is room for cinema, theater, concerts, food festivals, public skating, meetings with friends, play, and relaxation. On sunny days under the open sky, and in adverse weather under a giant "umbrella" that can spread over the park in just a few minutes. The area that was previously enclosed by a fence is once again becoming a park.

Concept
Park Háječek is an extraordinary place at the confluence of the Malše and Vltava rivers, closely linked to the city center and the opposite Sokolský Island. Its location in relation to the center and the river invites pauses and relaxation, offering walks or bike rides along the riverbank, views of the sky from the observatory, or pleasant evenings with friends at the summer cinema Háječek.

Part of the original area of the park was gradually taken over by the construction of a winter sports hall and others, thus defining its southern boundary. The summer cinema Háječek significantly intrudes into the remaining part of the park. Its existing appearance for most of the year creates a barrier between the Vltava riverbank and F. A. Gerstner Street, which leads to the main square of Přemysl Otakar II., 400 meters away. A relatively large part of the park remains unused for most of the year.

The proposal fundamentally changes the current barrier-like appearance of the summer cinema. It intensively connects it with the surrounding park, restoring the integrity and atmosphere of the park. A park that has space for cinema, theater, concerts, food festivals, public skating, meetings with friends, play, and relaxation. On nice days under the open sky, and in bad weather under a giant "umbrella" that can be spread over the park in a few minutes. The area previously divided by a high fence is once again becoming a park.

Thanks to the proposed design of a permeable, fully open area, it will continue to be primarily a park. Some of the space that was taken from the previous layout by buildings will return to the park with the opening of the Háječek cinema. A park accessible from all sides, connecting the city and the river, a place with an open sky and tree canopies above. A place to pause on a walk or bike ride and sit with the splashing waves of the Vltava at one's back.

In the summer months, part of the park will become a summer cinema or concert arena for several hours each day. With an anytime expandable "umbrella" overhead, there will be no need to fear the weather. For these short time spans, the area will be defined. No longer than is absolutely necessary. The area will be equally suitable for cinema, concerts, theater, food festivals, school performances, or even poetry competitions.
Spring and autumn events will be protected by a retractable roof. In nice weather, it will be pulled back, allowing the welcoming rays of the sun to shine through. In the event of sudden downpours or prolonged rain, it will provide shelter for all planned events.
In winter, the space will be free for an ice arena, and the restaurant will offer mulled wine to cold skaters.

In addition to the retractable roof, the proposal offers amenities for the park and all events held within it. The support pavilion forming the southern boundary of the park contains a ticket office with a bar, a restaurant with capacity serving towards the park and the river, and restroom facilities for events held in the enclosed area, as well as publicly accessible restrooms during times outside these events. Barrier-free amenities are a given.

For effective use of space and for the atmosphere corresponding to various utilization options, a fully telescopic grandstand is proposed. This can be used in the currently needed range with a capacity of up to 990 seats plus 66 seats in the front row, including reserved ones. For cinema, full capacity is considered, for a school academy, 300 seats can be extended, while three rows suffice for skating. During periods when the park remains a park, the entire audience can be retracted, thus protecting it from the weather and damage. The retractable projection screen is safely stored at a height of 13 m in a cassette under the steel structure when not in projection use. Thus, at no time of the year does the place appear as an abandoned, closed summer cinema, but always as what it is at that moment.

Fencing for the needs of separating the area during ticketed events is designed so that its parts are either hidden and do not create barriers in the park either visually or physically, or as elements that are an integral part of the park—such as benches with inserted sliding fences capable of filling the gaps between them.

Despite the relatively sophisticated nature of the equipment, such as the retractable roof, grandstand, or fencing, the design aims to offer simple solutions in terms of service—only those will actually be used to connect the park during times outside of designated events, ensuring that the park Háječek remains an open, welcoming, and attractive place year-round.

Urban Planning Solution
The proposal makes the entire area of the park permeable, renewing old connections and creating new ones.

A low "pavilion" linear building on the southern boundary of the park defines a clear edge demarcating the park boundary. Along the southern edge of the pavilion, a new link is proposed extending the street U Koněspřežky into a functional connection to the Vltava riverbank. The pedestrian and cycling path activates the area, preventing the creation of a "forgotten" part of the park with all accompanying negative phenomena.

The pavilion structure houses amenities for the park and cinema, as well as for other possible events with greater public attendance. The restaurant is oriented westward toward the river, with the related area—a recreation meadow—facing north toward the core of the park and the observatory. In connection with the new "intersection," recreational stairs are placed.

The structure with a retractable roof measuring 50 m in diameter is part of the reinforced area of the park, allowing cultural and other events to take place. The different character of the areas, together with the variable setting of the fully extendable grandstand for 1000 visitors, allows for free use of the space and high variability within a minimized area.

The definition of the cinema area is designed to be as permeable as possible, allowing it to be simply enclosed for the absolutely necessary time—and, above all, subsequently opened. This is absolutely essential for the function of the place.

The proposal partially exceeds the boundaries of the current summer cinema area. The area itself is not larger than the existing one but is shifted more toward the center of the park, thus becoming its natural center.

The current kindergarten is removed as per the proposal.

Architectural Solution
The volumes of the proposed buildings are minimized. Park areas and greenery are prioritized over buildings.

The park's amenities are realized in the form of a single-story garden "pavilion." At first glance, resistant buildings clad in metal sheets, able to house a telescopic grandstand, projection booth, storage rooms, and restrooms with a maximum capacity of 2000 visitors to the area. The ceiling slab extending over three volumes creating the amenities provides covered areas when the roof over the open park area is not extended. It thus protects park visitors from sun or rain.

The retractable roof is tensioned to a height of 14 m within a circumference of 50 m. It thus allows for coverage of most of the summer cinema's grandstand as well as the free "concert" area with a capacity of more than 2000 people. The steel structure of the girdle is raised above the ground by four posts, each made up of three steel tubes.
The circular shape is chosen for static advantage, as the forces tensioning the roof "cancel" each other out due to their opposition, and it is unnecessary to anchor the structure with additional cable or pole constructions into the ground around the entire structure. It also corresponds to the universal shape of an "arena," balanced nearby with an almost perfectly square square, and last but not least, it evokes a subtle garden gazebo. The white color of the fabric itself and the structure for its tension is primarily derived from the image of light garden gazebos.

Fencing for the definition of the area during paid events is designed so that the fencing elements either completely disappear or are an integral part of the park. The addition of small architecture enhancing the stay in the park—benches, wooden "decks," a children's playground, fire pits—is anticipated both within the summer cinema area and outside it.

The concept of the existing park is preserved, with trees not conflicting with the plan retained, and new ones planted in place of those cut down. The areas and furnishings of the cinema enhance the park with new functions and atmospheres. Partial revitalization and surface improvements toward a more "park-like" surface are recommended. The areas of the area connect to park paths on a lower level of the park—at the bottom of a former pond. The newly proposed areas and paths connect to existing pedestrian routes. Access to the part of the park around the observatory is emphasized in the spirit of the planned revitalization of these spaces.