Finalists of the Architect of the Year Award 2020

At the beginning of summer, the expert jury selected five finalists for the Architect of the Year 2020 competition. These are architects who, over the past five years, have significantly contributed to architecture in the Czech Republic through either outstanding work or support for quality architecture and the profession. The ceremonial announcement of the results of the twelfth year of the competition will take place on September 8, 2020, at the CAMP venue in Prague.
The Architect of the Year award highlights the significance and importance of architecture for our lives and cultural development of society, as well as the exceptional role of architects, who can influence the quality of construction. At the same time, the aim of the award is to promote awareness and advocate for quality architecture. “The Architect of the Year award should not be an accolade for a lifetime achievement, nor should it commemorate life anniversaries. Its purpose is to recognize a significant contribution to the field of architecture from the last five years”, reminded the competition statute during the July meeting of the expert jury by architecture promoter Adam Gebrian. He, along with other jury members - architects Stanislav Fiala, Petr Hájek, Marcela Steinbachová, and artist Kateřina Šedá - decided on the twelve nominations.

NOMINATIONS - ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR 2020
Among the nominees were practicing architects, as well as theorists or educators and other engaged professionals and their associations: Zdeněk Fránek; Petr Janda; Gallery VI PER, Cosa.cz / Markéta Mráčková and Barbora Šimonová; Karolina Jirkalová; A.LT Architects / Peter Lacko and Filip Tittelbach; Ehl Koumar Architects / Tomáš Koumar and Lukáš Ehl; Atelier 111 Architects; Petr Stolín; o-va / Jiří Opočenský, Štěpán Valouch.

FINALISTS - ARCHITECT OF THE YEAR 2020
The jury's effort is to comprehensively evaluate each nominee. The jurors agreed that the nominated individuals should be representatives of quality creation and at the same time engaged in the field of architecture, as established by the competition statute. “For the finalists, we also observed their overall contribution to society, professional and moral integrity, and personal commitment. We agreed that they should bring stable quality to society and the environment. At the same time, we wanted to highlight lesser-known personalities whose selection among the finalists would motivate them in their further work and significantly support their activities,” explains jury member Marcela Steinbachová. Ultimately, five individuals advanced to the finals. The jury will also grant one honorary recognition in September.

Atelier 111 Architects / Jiří Weinzettl, Barbora Weinzettlová, Veronika Indrová
Jury justification: The projects of the studio are sensitive, contextual, and contemporary. They consist of coherent and simple buildings, with a clearly readable authorial opinion, shaped by both form and material from a kind of collective memory. They thus act as a natural part of the place. The material impact and the chosen materials in the studio's realizations are convincing and indisputable, whether dealing with the Opatov Workshops, family houses in Litvínovice or Jinonice, or the archetypal cottage by the pond in Vysočina.

Cosa.cz / Markéta Mráčková and Barbora Šimonová
Jury justification: Cosa consists of a duo of female architects engaged in many diverse activities in the field of architecture and urbanism. Even though their work might seem a bit inconspicuous, it is an important contribution to the contemporary perception of this discipline. In 2014, they contributed to a publication mapping the theme of mass panel construction, in 2017 they filmed documentaries showing architectural realizations of the 1980s and in 2018, they created more documents focusing on the relationship between postmodern theory and the then Czechoslovak practice. Their fascination with the architecture of the normalization era stems from the belief that this architecture is irretrievably disappearing, and through their books and videos, they strive for a greater understanding of the buildings from this period.

Zdeněk Fránek
Jury justification: The work of Professor Zdeněk Fránek draws from both architectural (Czech baroque) and artistic (Paul Klee) as well as natural sources (botany), which he transforms into an original, very personal form. He is one of the most prominent representatives of the organic movement in Czech architecture. His buildings are characterized by sculptural qualities and, especially in the last decade, reflect his interest in ecology. They sensitively enter their environment, becoming its enriching phenomenon. Simply put, they are beautiful without being pretentious. In addition to designing family homes, museums, sacred or industrial buildings, Zdeněk Fránek engages in pedagogy, author exhibitions, and promotes Czech architecture both domestically and abroad. His activity has been diverse, intense, and above all: inspirational for thirty years.

Petr Janda
Jury justification: In the work of Petr Janda from Studio Brainwork, his experience from studying at the Faculty of Architecture with Jan Bočan and at the Academy of Fine Arts with sculptor Aleš Veselý is combined. His designs have a strong artistic charge and are also technically detailed. In recent years, he has been intensely focused on projects related to the Vltava River. Among the most notable realizations from this time, which he worked on with his studio, are the interior of a loft in Zlín and the revitalization of Prague's embankments - the vaults on Rašín, Hořejší, and Dvořákova embankments with beautiful glazed doors.

ov-a / Jiří Opočenský, Štěpán Valouch
Jury justification: The ov-a atelier was founded in 2010 by architects Jiří Opočenský and Štěpán Valouch and within its relatively short existence has gained deserved attention from both the general public and professionals. Their designs are characterized by clear concepts and quality detail processing. Among their most prominent works are the complex of apartment hotels Svatý Vavřinec in Pec pod Sněžkou, the new headquarters for Lasvit in Nový Bor, or the connecting bridges of VŠCHT buildings in Prague.

Nominations for the Architect to the Community Award 2020
The Architect of the Year competition is organized by ABF, a.s., for the twelfth year. An integral part of it is also the Architect to the Community Award granted by the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, and the magazine Modern Community. This year for the first time, the award is being granted in cooperation with the Association for Urbanism and Spatial Planning of the Czech Republic.

“The aim of the competition is to honor the tandem architect - community and to highlight their roles in the construction process. It clearly shows us that cooperation between an architect or architectural studio and the local government brings many positives for both the collaborators themselves and for the community and its citizens,” explains Josef Morkus from the Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic. “We would like to support the approach of local governments that do not think only in the horizon of their electoral term but look to the future and monitor the long-term development of the community. One thing is again confirmed - planning is necessary, having a strategy, working on it and gradually implementing it,” says František Lukl, chairman of the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic. “A tremendous benefit is the inclusion of landscape architects into teams that bring new perspectives into the development of towns and municipalities. It is crucial to appreciate the ability of long-term and systematic collaboration between experts and the community,” adds Alena Klimtová from the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic.
The expert jury for the Architect to the Community Award 2020 worked with the following members: Radka Vladyková - Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic, Josef Morkus - Ministry for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, Petr Velička - Czech Chamber of Architects, Petr Durdík - Association for Urbanism and Spatial Planning of the Czech Republic, Milan Košař - recipient of the Architect to the Community Award 2019, Ivan Ryšavý - magazine Modern Community, and Regina Loukotová - representative of ABF, a.s. The jury discussed the potential for quality architectural development of individual municipalities and selected five finalists for the competition and a winner, who will be presented at the ceremonial announcement of the results of the Architect to the Community Award 2020 on September 8, 2020, at CAMP in Prague.

FINALISTS – ARCHITECT TO THE COMMUNITY 2020
Bratčice – Dan Šamánek
The municipality's approach shows how to work comprehensively with public space, although the size and certainly the budget of the municipality could very easily generate interest in other development priorities. The form of the completed landscape structure of the village green is indeed on the thin line between design, which we can only afford because of subsidies, and conceptual creation referencing the traditional form of a village square, but the correct understanding of the possibilities offered by vegetation, shared public space, the changing water regime in the landscape and settlements, and collaboration with the professional approach of a landscape architect to the topic is a challenge that the municipality’s leadership has comprehended. The municipality has thus distinguished itself from hundreds of pseudoromantic green or, conversely, instant technical, poor, and "expensive" solutions in the contemporary rural face. Collaboration of municipalities regarding investments and subsequent maintenance of public spaces with landscape architects is inevitable in the future, and good examples, such as Bratčice, certainly confirm this.

Havlíčkův Brod - Aleš Burian
The jury particularly valued the long-term cooperation of the town hall with architect Aleš Burian from the Brno architectural office Burian – Křivinka. Since 2006, thanks to this continuous collaboration, several significant projects for the revitalization and reconstruction of the historical core have been realized in the town without conflicting with the status of the town's heritage zone. These works include the ongoing reconstruction of the Old Town Hall or last year's completion of the reconstruction of Smetanova náměstí, which followed the previous revitalization of the main historical Havlíčkovo náměstí and adjacent streets. Architect Aleš Burian, as the author of the mentioned works, has significantly contributed to the fact that the public, despite some initial concerns, has embraced the complex modifications of the historical core of the city as their own. The jury noted that Havlíčkův Brod exemplifies how long-term conceptual collaboration between an external architect and the city can function during its development and management.

Hodice - Milan Nytra and Hana Nytrová
The jury saw the strength of the long-term cooperation of the municipality and the architectural team in their emphasis on landscape elements in the community, in care for them, and mainly in their perception as catalysts of vibrant public life. However, it does not stop there; cooperation also involves the reconstruction of the grocery store into the Municipal House, the renovation of a cultural house from the 1980s, and the newly built bus stop. These are high-quality architectural and landscape interventions and a successful synergy between the leadership of a very small municipality and an experienced architectural team.

Holasovice - Lubomír Dehner
The jury positively assessed the long-term and systematic cooperation of the municipality with an architect, a local native, who participated in preparing the urban development of the municipality and then in individual realizations, including their construction. This involves modifications to public spaces as well as the reconstruction of civic amenities. In each adjustment, there is a noticeable effort to preserve the genius loci of the community and affirm its character. An important aspect is also the cooperation with the public, which is involved in the preparation of individual regeneration interventions in the municipality and is also guided towards communal activities. The architect's contribution to the municipality's development is undeniable.

Soběslav - Jaromír Kročák
The jury particularly appreciated the long-standing cooperation between the architect and the local government, resulting in the reconstruction of the square, park, and modifications of several buildings, including the restoration and extension of the Gothic castle and the conversion of a cinema into a multifunctional cultural center. Although Soběslav is not a large city, it boasts valuable public spaces and significant buildings. The town, in collaboration with the architect, conscientiously and conceptually tends to them, highlighting and developing their values. It also takes into account the impact of modifications on the microclimate, operational requirements, and ease of maintenance. It does not forget public involvement, which co-creates the projects. A considerable factor in the successful collaboration is certainly the fact that the architect is a native of Soběslav. The awarded tandem is already preparing another project at St. Vitus Church.

CEREMONIAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS – 8. 9. 2020
The ceremonial awards ceremony for the laureates of the Architect of the Year 2020 and Architect to the Community 2020 awards will take place on September 8, 2020, at 6 PM at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP, IPR Prague, Vyšehradská 51, Prague 2). The Architect of the Year 2020 award will be presented by last year's laureate, architect Stanislav Fiala. The event will be moderated by Jiří Jaroš.