In the 5th year of the Czech Architecture Award, 192 works were submitted

192 works are competing for the title in the 5th year of the Czech Architecture Award (ČCA). This is a higher number than last year. The international expert jury will now select a smaller group of nominees from these. The highest awards, namely the ČCA Finalists and the holder of the Main ČCA Award, will be announced at a festive gala evening on November 24. Awards for exceptional achievements will also be granted, selected by the Academy and the ČCA Committee, along with Partner Awards.

In this year's competition exhibition by the Czech Chamber of Architects, works realized on the territory of the Czech Republic between 2015 and 2019 could be submitted. More than half of the realizations (108) were completed last year, and four-fifths were completed over the last two years (153). New constructions, as in previous years, prevail over reconstructions, accounting for approximately three-fifths of the submitted projects (117). This year, it is again confirmed that housing remains an important topic in construction in the Czech Republic, although the number of submitted buildings designated for housing is gradually declining. In this year's ČCA round, detached and apartment houses, residential complexes, cottages, and chalets make up two-fifths of the submitted works (77). A catalog of all submitted realizations is freely accessible on the competition exhibition's website.

Private investments dominate, with some public projects also coming from the competition

More than two-thirds of the projects (133) are backed by private investors. However, the ratio of public contracts has increased this year (59), traditionally with a more significant share of reconstructions, which make up nearly half (29). Five buildings submitted in this year's exhibition originated from an architectural competition with confirmation of regularity from the Czech Chamber of Architects (compared to seven last year). These include the Jan Palach Memorial in Všetaty / MCA Atelier (competition in 2016), the Fire Station and Technical Services Facility in Líbeznice / EHL & KOUMAR ARCHITEKTI (competition in 2017), the Amos Elementary School for Psáry and Dolní Jirčany / SOA architects (competition in 2013), the New City Hall of Prague 7 / Atelier bod architekti (competition in 2016), and the Archeopark Mikulčice / M&P Architects - Landscape Architecture (competition in 2009).

A third of the works are realized in Prague

A third of the submitted realizations were created in Prague (58), which, compared to the previous year that saw an increase, has again decreased. The second-largest city, Brno, recorded a drop, with only three buildings submitted this year. Among the regions, the Central Bohemian Region significantly leads over others in the number of projects competing for the award, just like last year (36, compared to “only” 27 in 2019). Overall, two-thirds of the works are built in the regions.
Housing projects constitute nearly half of the submitted realizations
By typology, two-fifths of the submitted buildings (77) are housing projects, just like in the previous round of the exhibition. Three-fifths show a diverse composition of realizations, including administrative buildings and company facilities (21), educational and training facilities (18), public spaces (12), cultural and social facilities (9), buildings serving services and commerce (9), hotels and restaurants (9), public buildings (7), monuments (7), healthcare facilities (6), transportation constructions (6), observation towers and viewpoints (5), sports buildings (4, compared to 9 last year), or sacred buildings (4), but also smaller-scale structures.

Average realization duration is three years

An interesting fact is the average duration of the realization of a building (from project to completion) submitted to this year's round of the exhibition, which slightly exceeds three years.

International expert jury

The work of architects will be evaluated by seven qualified foreign experts. Among them is landscape architect, urban planner, and academic Henri Bava (France), co-founder of the Agence Ter studio based in Paris, Karlsruhe, Shanghai, and Los Angeles. He focuses on the integration of architecture, urbanism, and landscape architecture in diverse projects of parks, public spaces, land use plans, and urban planning. Another jury member is architect Alessandra Cianchetta (UK), who practices in her own studio located in London and Paris. The studio develops projects in the fields of architecture and urbanism with a special interest in the regeneration of urban areas and cultural or administrative objects. Cianchetta is also active in the academic sphere. The ČCA 2020 jury also includes architect Jeanne Dekkers (Netherlands), who leads her own studio in Delft working on a wide range of projects – designs for educational facilities, housing, interior design including furniture design, as well as land use plans. Dekkers is very active in both academic and professional spheres, also engaging in publishing activities. Architect and theorist Gillian Horn (UK), currently engaged in academia and research, is a jury member, while she is also a main contributor to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) magazine. Until last year, she spent 15 years in the Penoyre & Prasad studio. Another jury member, architect Csaba Nagy (Hungary), operates in his own studio Archikon Architects dealing with a broad range of projects – renovations and new constructions of public, commercial, residential, and industrial buildings. He is currently a board member of the Hungarian Architects Association. The jury also includes architect Štefan Polakovič (Slovakia), co-founder of the GutGut studio, whose realizations have been awarded in Slovakia with the ARCH award, Dušan Jurkovič Award, and four times with the CE-ZA-AR Architecture Award. Polakovič is also a co-founder of the successful Bratislava festival DAAD. The seven-member jury is completed by architect Jeroen van Schooten (Netherlands), who is active in his own leading Dutch studio V Architectuur based in Amsterdam. In addition, he is publicly engaged within professional associations.

Works were submitted by architects themselves as well as nominated by experts

Both the authors themselves and members of the Academy of the Czech Architecture Award could initiate the submission of works to the competition. Works submitted in previous rounds, except those that made it to the narrower group of nominees, could also compete for the award. This option was utilized more by architects in this year's round than in previous years. A more detailed introduction to individual projects will be provided in the catalog of nominated projects and subsequent exhibitions in the regions.

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