Park at Moravian Square in Brno - announcement of competition

The park on Moravské náměstí is an important element of the urban structure and forms one of the central public spaces of the city of Brno, which the Brno-střed district wants to focus its attention on. It is a crossroads of significant pedestrian routes, with the main compositional and visual axis of the park on Moravské náměstí created by Rašínova Street, which leads into the park space from Freedom Square. It further connects to the public transport stops Joštova and Česká. Significant radial streets Kounicova and Lidická run along the park, extending from the city center.
“The park should primarily serve as a recreational and rest area for the city’s residents. The park will function as a cultural space, not as a marketplace. The designs should determine clear delineation of pedestrian routes that connect to relaxation areas of greenery. It can be complemented by water features, a café, public restrooms, spaces for outdoor exhibitions, and venues for cultural events. The designs should include solutions for public urban greenery that is preserved and newly designed, a lighting concept, material solutions for surfaces, and urban furniture. The city’s intention is, among other things, to establish a pedestrian connection to Mášova Street according to historical footprints, in the form of a crossing area over Koliště Street,” stated councilor of the Brno-střed district Petr Bořecký.
“In the 19th and 20th centuries, the park on today’s Moravské náměstí became a battleground for various ideologies. The German House became the representative of the German ethnicity in Brno, built in the central area of the square at the end of the 19th century as a counterbalance to the Czech Besední dům. During its existence, the building was the center of German education and culture, but during the protectorate, it also became a symbolic place of Nazi Germanization of Brno. For this reason, its further existence after the war became undesirable and the building was demolished. Its ruins were then forcibly removed by Brno Germans. After the war, especially after 1948, this place was dominated by a new ideology, which erected both a monument to the Red Army and later also a sculpture titled Communists as a sign of their final victory,” informed Michal Doležel, representative and member of the Brno-střed district council.
“Before the reconstruction of the park on Moravské náměstí begins, an archaeological survey will take place in the area, as well as an exploration of the fragments of the German House. It can be expected that the basement of the German House has survived in a fragmented state (perimeter walls, part of the vaulting system?) at the site of the park until today. As part of the park reconstruction, a reminder of the German House is planned. The form of this retrospect is left open to the participants of the competition,” specifies Michal Doležel.
The planned start of the reconstruction is tentatively scheduled for the beginning of 2018.

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