Moravian Jewish Museum - competition results
Mehrin - architectural competition knows the winner
In February 2022, after a year of preparation, an invited international architectural competition was announced for the new building of the Moravian Jewish Museum Mehrin, which was attended by the following studios:
Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark)
Cino Zucchi Architteti (Italy)
Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan)
MVRDV (Netherlands)
The competition was prepared and administered by the architectural studio knesl kynčl architekti, with the costs covered by the Foundation for the Construction and Operation of the Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia.
On September 1-2, 2022, a nine-member jury, led by architect Josef Pleskot, convened at the International Hotel and unanimously selected the proposal from Kengo Kuma & Associates as the winner. The second place was awarded to the proposal from the Dutch studio MVRDV, and the third place went to the proposal from the Bjarke Ingels Group. The building will be located on the site of the current parking lot opposite the Grand Hotel.
Jury Assessment
“Considering that all proposals met the basic parameters of the assignment equally and that the architectural quality of each was significant, the jury agreed to write a single assessment for all four proposals collectively. All competition proposals brought a number of inspirations. The architectural interpretation of the assignment was distinctly different in all four proposals. The spectrum of interpretation was bounded by two extreme positions – the house as a monument (an autonomous sculpture) and the house as a civil, friendly, open medium. The model of an open house in contact with the public surrounding ground floor was selected, after extensive discussion, as more suitable for the comprehensive fulfillment of the assignment and for the city of Brno. However, the model of the house as a certain symbol – a monument – was seen as justified. The greatest openness, both content-wise and formally, was unanimously found in proposal No. 3 (Kengo Kuma & Associates).
For its eruptive, emotional, crystal-like expression, proposal No. 4 (MVRDV) received high praise. However, the degree of usability and variability of the internal space was discussed.
Proposals No. 1 (Cino Zucchi Architteti) and No. 2 (Bjarke Ingels Group) contained varying degrees of both extremes. Yet, neither aspect reached the quality that would come close to proposals No. 3 and No. 4.”
Martin Reiner, author of the Mehrin project
“We are convinced that Czech architects are excellent, and I personally have many friends among them. In this case, we decided to prioritize an outside perspective and approached significant world studios. Brno knows a similar situation; the iconic building of modern architecture, the Tugendhat Villa, was also designed by a foreign architect.
Now we have a winning proposal, which will be further developed into an architectural study in collaboration with the client. Subsequently, project documentation will be prepared – and the project could be ready for implementation within three to four years.”
On October 11, 2022, at 6:00 PM at the Architecture Gallery (Starobrněnská 18, Brno), the opening of an exhibition of competition entries will take place, which will last until November 15, 2022. The exhibition will be inaugurated personally by the winner of the competition, architect Kengo Kuma.
On October 12, 2022, at 6:00 PM, there will be an exhibition of architectural designs for the Moravian Jewish Museum Mehrin, created at the Institute of Experimental Creation of the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology, in the exhibition space of café Trojka (House of the Lords of Kunštát, Dominikánská 9, Brno).
The Moravian Jewish Museum Mehrin is a project that has been developing since spring 2019 and is backed by writer Martin Reiner.
In April 2020, the Foundation was established, whose board includes the Minister for European Affairs and former rector of MU Mikuláš Bek (chairman), Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Pavel Rychetský, Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno Markéta Vaňková, Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities Petr Papoušek, and former ambassador to the USA and Russia Petr Kolář.
The aim of the project is to build a museum that presents to the public the history of Jewish presence in Moravia, particularly through documenting and making accessible the authentic life stories of Moravian Jews using 21st-century technology.
Part of the Moravian Jewish Museum will also be the Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia. The new building will also become a vibrant public space in the wider city center with a well-equipped library, a multifunctional hall for lectures, projections, and exhibitions, as well as an educational center for children and youth. There will also be a stylish café.
More information >
Bjarke Ingels Group (Denmark)
Cino Zucchi Architteti (Italy)
Kengo Kuma & Associates (Japan)
MVRDV (Netherlands)
The competition was prepared and administered by the architectural studio knesl kynčl architekti, with the costs covered by the Foundation for the Construction and Operation of the Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia.
On September 1-2, 2022, a nine-member jury, led by architect Josef Pleskot, convened at the International Hotel and unanimously selected the proposal from Kengo Kuma & Associates as the winner. The second place was awarded to the proposal from the Dutch studio MVRDV, and the third place went to the proposal from the Bjarke Ingels Group. The building will be located on the site of the current parking lot opposite the Grand Hotel.
Jury Assessment
“Considering that all proposals met the basic parameters of the assignment equally and that the architectural quality of each was significant, the jury agreed to write a single assessment for all four proposals collectively. All competition proposals brought a number of inspirations. The architectural interpretation of the assignment was distinctly different in all four proposals. The spectrum of interpretation was bounded by two extreme positions – the house as a monument (an autonomous sculpture) and the house as a civil, friendly, open medium. The model of an open house in contact with the public surrounding ground floor was selected, after extensive discussion, as more suitable for the comprehensive fulfillment of the assignment and for the city of Brno. However, the model of the house as a certain symbol – a monument – was seen as justified. The greatest openness, both content-wise and formally, was unanimously found in proposal No. 3 (Kengo Kuma & Associates).
For its eruptive, emotional, crystal-like expression, proposal No. 4 (MVRDV) received high praise. However, the degree of usability and variability of the internal space was discussed.
Proposals No. 1 (Cino Zucchi Architteti) and No. 2 (Bjarke Ingels Group) contained varying degrees of both extremes. Yet, neither aspect reached the quality that would come close to proposals No. 3 and No. 4.”
Martin Reiner, author of the Mehrin project
“We are convinced that Czech architects are excellent, and I personally have many friends among them. In this case, we decided to prioritize an outside perspective and approached significant world studios. Brno knows a similar situation; the iconic building of modern architecture, the Tugendhat Villa, was also designed by a foreign architect.
Now we have a winning proposal, which will be further developed into an architectural study in collaboration with the client. Subsequently, project documentation will be prepared – and the project could be ready for implementation within three to four years.”
On October 11, 2022, at 6:00 PM at the Architecture Gallery (Starobrněnská 18, Brno), the opening of an exhibition of competition entries will take place, which will last until November 15, 2022. The exhibition will be inaugurated personally by the winner of the competition, architect Kengo Kuma.
On October 12, 2022, at 6:00 PM, there will be an exhibition of architectural designs for the Moravian Jewish Museum Mehrin, created at the Institute of Experimental Creation of the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology, in the exhibition space of café Trojka (House of the Lords of Kunštát, Dominikánská 9, Brno).
The Moravian Jewish Museum Mehrin is a project that has been developing since spring 2019 and is backed by writer Martin Reiner.
In April 2020, the Foundation was established, whose board includes the Minister for European Affairs and former rector of MU Mikuláš Bek (chairman), Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic Pavel Rychetský, Mayor of the Statutory City of Brno Markéta Vaňková, Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities Petr Papoušek, and former ambassador to the USA and Russia Petr Kolář.
The aim of the project is to build a museum that presents to the public the history of Jewish presence in Moravia, particularly through documenting and making accessible the authentic life stories of Moravian Jews using 21st-century technology.
Part of the Moravian Jewish Museum will also be the Holocaust Documentation Center in Moravia. The new building will also become a vibrant public space in the wider city center with a well-equipped library, a multifunctional hall for lectures, projections, and exhibitions, as well as an educational center for children and youth. There will also be a stylish café.
More information >
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