Jiří Gulbis, diploma thesis
Studio Suchánek/Janoš

City of Úštěk
/ the city is located at the junction of Kokořínsko and the Czech Central Highlands / a rocky formation towering over the surrounding landscape is surrounded by streams on three sides, while on the western side it gradually merges into the neighboring hills / currently, Úštěk is home to 1,500 residents / the city of Úštěk has the smallest urban heritage reserve
/ part of the population is traditionally employed in agriculture, particularly hop cultivation. The service sector is gradually gaining importance, especially in connection with the developing tourism industry. The city welcomes 70,000 to 100,000 visitors annually, mainly in the summer months.
/ the currently approved zoning plan designates locations for construction development on the eastern side of the city, where it gradually opens into the surrounding meadows and fields / by defining the emotional boundary of the city, the proposal aims to highlight the importance of supporting the development of the inner city / the proposal defines development areas for residential buildings, and it further addresses the overall relationships between the city and the landscape, connections to the adjacent recreational area around Lake Chmelař, and the elimination of the current barrier created by the expressway with a railway line between the city and the lake.

cultural district / state
/ the addressed castle complex, known as Panský dvůr, is inseparably linked to the main square of the historic city of Úštěk
/ the gap next to the town hall, where a municipal brewery once stood, is helplessly filled with a mix of coniferous trees placed in an unkempt lawn that helps to balance the break in the terrain, which adheres almost horizontally to one side against the building of the former district court (now the Town Hall) and gradually slopes down on the other side in the form of a street to one floor lower; this is due to the varied morphology of the city itself on the cliff, this semi-open space is completed in the background by a view of the cultural house, which however, in its form, resembles more of a grocery store built in a small town for purely utilitarian reasons.
/ directly behind the town hall, there spreads the area of the Gothic castle, which is only later wedged into the natural structure of the city, and due to its technical condition, it is almost inaccessible to the public; due to its size and configuration, it is rather unreadable in the city, blending in with other city buildings
/ this expression is further amplified by the aging cultural house built in front of the castle in the 1960s, which quite daringly occupies both the view of the castle and the direct view into the valley visible from the open courtyard
/ the plateau in front of the castle has historically, except for the last roughly 150 years, always been free and provided the castle with a dignified forefield due to its size; in the Middle Ages, the entire surrounding area of the castle was even cleared for a defensive moat.

rediscovery of the cultural value of the historical object / proposal
/ removal of the existing cultural house and relocating this social function to the castle building, creating a new identification of the castle as the center of a significant cultural district of the entire city
/ making the castle accessible through logical organization of individual spaces and supplementing the new communication tower building instead of the dilapidated single-story workshop in the courtyard beneath the arcade bridge at the eastern end of the castle
/ in connection with the extensive urban heritage reservation and the strategic vision of the city’s entry into the UNESCO structures, the transformation of small castle buildings and the adjoining deanery with arched outdoor stables into a regional center for heritage care and the associated creation of an attractive castle educational workshop for the public; the workshop building replicates the footprint and volumetric outline of a medieval house that collapsed at the end of the twentieth century.
/ into the freed space left by the cultural house, the proposal places a terraced house, within which there is a new brewery concealed, protruding over the terrain with a hotel, spatially defining the newly created forefield of the castle and simultaneously incorporating the existing historic lager cellars into the operation.
/ the height is derived from the existing terrain break, connects with the prominent castle terraces, and opens the view over the green terraces of the courtyard into the enclosed valley below the city
/ it fills the gap into the square with the outlet of the brewery mass in the body of the brewery hotel
/ the console above the main entrance to the brewery is inspired by the arcades of historical houses, which today only fragmentarily line the square, yet their traditional, clearly positive protective role cannot be denied
/ into the newly uncovered forefield of the castle, the rear section of the town hall also opens up through an adjoining terrace with seating stairs, in which a mother center and a senior club will be created, bringing a natural daily urban bustle to these places
/ the space in front of the castle, besides offering a beautiful view and enhancing the sight of the castle, will also provide a traffic-non-conflicting area for holding regular city markets; extraordinary ones traditionally fully occupy the entire Úštěk square, vendors will newly find suitable facilities in the basement of the Town Hall
/ the proposal cleans existing historical elements of the site and enhances their authentic expression / newly inserted elements are clearly distinguishable in their architectural articulation.