New Prague Bench - Results of the International Design Competition

How will we sit? The competition for new benches has a winner.

Source
Mgr. Marek Vácha, tiskový mluvčí a vedoucí Kanceláře komunikace IPR Praha
Publisher
Tisková zpráva
25.10.2017 14:50
Michal Froněk
Jan Němeček

The winners of the international design competition were Michal Froněk and Jan Němeček from the company Artěl. In the anonymous competition, the best design for a set of urban furniture was selected: a bench, a bin, and a bike rack. These could start to appear on the streets by the end of next year.

The winner was officially announced on Tuesday, October 24, in the presence of Mayor Adriana Krnáčová and jury members, at the newly opened Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP). The opening of the exhibition "New Prague Furniture: Benches, Bins, Bike Racks" also took place here, which will showcase all the competition designs as well as the history and current state of Prague's furniture.

“A key step has been made towards remedying the undignified condition of equipment in Prague's streets,” says Mayor Adriana Krnáčová. “I believe that by the end of next year we will begin replacing the worst pieces with quality new furniture.”

“The competition demonstrated the dynamism and creativity especially of Czech designers and architects and the trust of the city leadership in these professions. The winning project will surely find its place with elegance in all public spaces in Prague,” stated jury chairman Claude Brulhart, designer of Geneva's urban furniture and public spaces. Also sitting on the jury were well-known Czech designers Eva Eisler and Jiří Pelcl, as well as architect Petr Hájek.

The designers, along with the city, will now finalize the design and create production documentation. The city will then purchase the license and select a supplier. Therefore, Prague will have the freedom to easily change suppliers in case of dissatisfaction.

The competition brief stated that the appearance of the furniture should reflect the character and history of the Prague environment and sensitively enhance the appearance of Prague's streets and squares. The elements will mainly be placed in the historical core and the wider center of Prague. The basis for the competition, which the city of Prague announced with the help of the Institute of Planning and Development in September of the previous year, was a detailed survey of the current state of furniture. “Prague's furniture is often neglected, improperly placed, and aesthetically poor,” summarizes the results of the analysis, IPR Prague director Ondřej Boháč.
There are several institutions that place and manage furniture in the city. However, their competencies are not clarified, and they usually do not coordinate with each other. In some places, no one takes care of it, while in others it unnecessarily clusters: for instance, at I. P. Pavlova, you will find as many as four different types of bins right next to each other. The lack of coherence among different types of furniture is another serious problem. “We found that in the wider center of Prague, there are an incredible 72 types of trash bins. Of these, 48 are within the Prague Heritage Reservation,” says IPR Prague director Ondřej Boháč.
The first elements could appear on the streets by the end of 2018. The most problematic benches and bins will be replaced first. The replacement will begin in the city center and surrounding areas, gradually extending throughout the city. However, this does not mean that there will be only uniform furniture throughout the city: for specific public spaces, it will still be possible to design custom furniture in the future. Also, historical or otherwise high-quality elements of urban furniture will certainly not disappear.

The winners of the competition, Michal Froněk and Jan Němeček, founded the design and architectural studio Olgoj Chorchoj in 1990. Together, they have received several prestigious Czech and international awards. Currently, they are professors at the Product Design Studio at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague.

The exhibition "New Urban Furniture: Benches, Bins, Bike Racks" will be on display at CAMP until November 19, every day except Monday from 9 AM to 9 PM.

Evaluation of the winning design:
The jury appreciates the high quality of the design in all aspects. The design is timeless - traditional and contemporary at the same time, it is clean in its lines, simple, and cultivated in both the whole and in detail. The overall impression is subtle, yet it is structurally stable.
The design solution is sophisticated and coherent. The set of elements is cohesive and supports the city's intention to unify Prague's furniture elements and is in line with the Public Space Manual of Prague. The set fits into the context of Prague's environment, both historical and contemporary.
In the bench design, the jury appreciates the good ergonomic solution, the simplicity of replacing wooden elements, and its overall sturdiness. The bench solution concept is designed in several well-usable variants that allow the furniture set to grow in the future. The design of the bins meets the shape, material, and functional requirements best of all evaluated designs.
Based on the submitted documentation, the jury concludes that the set will be appropriate in terms of aesthetic, functional, operational, and economic parameters and will best meet the expectations of the client. The design is balanced in form and functionality.
Some minor construction elements will need to be optimized for further prototypes and series production.

More about the competition at www.iprpraha.cz/mobiliar, information about the exhibition at www.praha.camp.
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