The Young Architect Award 2019 competition knows its winners

The best works of the 11th year of the competition for students and architects under 33 years old were awarded on September 10, 2019, at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP). This year, the jury sent 10 works to the finals that best addressed the theme of Rental Housing. The highlight of the announcement was the awarding of the CEMEX Young Architect Award, and the public also had a chance to vote on the competition website. All projects will be exhibited from October 2 to October 13 in the foyer of the first floor of the National Technical Museum.
At the festive ceremony on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, nearly two hundred architecture enthusiasts gathered at CAMP in Prague. First, the moderator Daniela Písařovicová introduced the laureate of the Prometheus Honorary Award of the Czech Republic 2019 for the best diploma thesis, which was awarded to Ondřej Halla for his work titled Microclimate of Swimming Pool Halls. Then, the best proposals from young architects under 33 years old for the Young Architect Award 2019 were presented. Furthermore, this year's Architect of the Community was announced, which went to Milan Košař, and a commendation was awarded to Jana Kostelecká for her long-term support and promotion of architecture. At the end of the evening, Stanislav Fiala received the Architect of the Year 2019 award.
Among the guests present, the moderator welcomed, among others, the Deputy Minister for Regional Development Marcela Pavlová, Petr Hlaváček, the First Deputy Mayor of the Capital City of Prague, the Chairman of the Board of ABF, a.s., Pavel Sehnal, the General Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board of ABF, a.s., Tomáš Kotrč, the Executive Director of the Union of Towns and Municipalities Radka Vladyková, the Chairman of ČKAIT Pavel Křeček, and last year's Architect of the Year laureate Petr Hájek.
The exceptional nature of this year's event was again enhanced by the general partner CEMEX Czech Republic with a unique challenge: This year's winner will embark on an inspirational visit to one of the European capitals, where they will meet a prominent architect or the head of urban development of the metropolis, thus getting acquainted with the issues of rental housing abroad as well. "As a company, we strive to help talented individuals, because they determine the direction of future development. We are proud that we can support talented young architects even in the Czech Republic," says Vesselin Barliev, Public Affairs Advisor, CEMEX Czech Republic.
"The theme of Rental Housing has proven to be very current and far from exhausted. It could be said that, on the contrary, we are only at the beginning. Even though we know there is much to build on, especially in our shared Czechoslovak history. The competitors managed to connect original contemporary approaches with humility and inspiration in 20th-century architecture," evaluated this year's edition the chairwoman of the jury and rector of the Architectural Institute in Prague (ARCHIP) Regina Loukotová.
The Young Architect Award competition gives students and emerging architects under 33 years old the opportunity to showcase their talents. "We greatly appreciate the opportunity to be among those who support this event. Young architects are those who will influence the development of our cities, our architecture, and our environment. Therefore, it is essential to support them, listen to them, and give them the space to present their visions. Their perspective is not yet burdened by everyday reality; it is pure and free, thus even more valuable," assessed the competition the managing director of YIT Stavo Vladimír Dvořák.
The purpose is to engage authors in creating a quality environment for living, to bring architecture closer to the general public, and, not least, to support public discussion about architecture. The expert jury evaluated the works based on the fulfillment of the potential of rental housing, the immediate integration of the proposal into the context of the place, and the subsequent contribution to social life in both the nearby and distant surroundings.

The jury decided to award the following works:

CEMEX YOUNG ARCHITECT AWARD 2019
+ tangible prize: CAD program Artlantis Studio
+ annual subscription to ARCHITECT+ magazine
+ visit of an architect in a European metropolis with CEMEX
MgA. Anna Svobodová and Ing. arch. MgA. Ondřej Blaha
Rental House Karlín
The design of the Karlín rental house is embedded in a narrow, steeply sloping strip, between Pernerova Street and the railway. Both transport lines intersect just behind the plot. The authors demonstrated a deep understanding of the essence of rental housing in defining and selecting their own assignment. The division of spaces into shared/private and the variability of their connections presents an innovative yet specific model of a metropolitan apartment building, and the richness of the spatial plan is the result of conscious effort and research in this typology. An intervention on such a complicated parcel with rental housing function brings positive impacts for the neighboring urban district, in terms of social, urbanistic, or even acoustic issues.
The jury agreed that the authors of the submitted proposal best responded to the theme of the competition, formulated through 3 basic evaluation criteria.
 
JOSEF HLÁVKA ARCHITECT AWARD
Bc. Barbora Červeňová
Municipal Rental House Karlín
FA ČVUT
Kuzemenský, Kunarová Studio
The proposal develops a generous layout of Prague's Karlín on several levels. A appropriately mixed mix of hotel, rental, and owner-occupied housing anchors the design in the real conditions of the current city. The urban block is disciplinedly infilled and, in the second plan, complemented by a tower with hotel apartments like a correctly directed acupuncture. The publicly accessible courtyard enhances the strict orthogonal grid of Karlín streets with the refined echo of the nearby viaduct, creating a truly livable place with character. The project is solid, built on proven principles of city building; nevertheless, it is contemporary or rather timeless. A refreshing promise in a frightened time.
 
REKTOR ČVUT AWARD FOR STUDENT WORK
Ing. arch. Filip Hermann
Český Krumlov - housing estate!
FA ČVUT
Novotný - Koňata - Zmek Studio
The winning project touches on the theme of low-cost rental housing in a city that has become a victim of mass tourism and whose authenticity is fading under the clatter of heels on the evening promenade. While the life of an ordinary resident has disappeared behind the curtain of the chimney cake cloud, Český Krumlov has become uninhabitable. The project for shared housing for seniors and young families returns the city to its residents and offers an interesting alternative for affordable housing across generations.

REKTOR TUL AWARD FOR STUDENT WORK
Sausan Haj Abdová
Municipal Rental House Karlín
FA ČVUT
Kuzemenský, Kunarová Studio
The infill of the Karlín block builds on the existing urban structure. The balcony house works with a basic construction module and apartment layout and its multiplication, allowing for a range of sizes of rental apartments and their potential variability over time. The form of the house is composed through assembly, mirroring, and rotating this module, leading to overall generosity in the proposal, which in Karlín is appropriate and justified.

MAIN PARTNER YIT AWARD
Ing. arch. MgA. Martin Petřík
City Avenue
The proposal captivated the jury with its discovery and refinement while disappointing with insufficient presentation of the main theme of the competition - rental housing. Nevertheless, the choice of location for such a function and typology at the interface of a city avenue and adjacent formal housing estate appears to be one of the best in the competition! It does not dilute the modernist principle of the surrounding buildings but develops it with awareness of the need for sensitive fine-tuning and weaves a network of various relationships with the world around it.

PUBLIC AWARD
Ing. arch. Roman Osika and Tomáš Čech
Roofs above the Dust Collector

General Partner: CEMEX Czech Republic
Main Partner: YIT Stavo s.r.o.
With financial support from: The Capital City of Prague
Partners: IPR Prague, State Environmental Fund, National Technical Museum, CHIVAS, Foundation "Nadání J., M. a Z. Hlávkových", FOR ARCH, Center for the Support of Computer Graphics of the Czech Republic, SPYRON, PVA EXPO PRAHA
Patronage: MK, MMR, MŠMT, MŽP, SFŽP, SMO ČR, The Capital City of Prague, ČKA, ČKAIT, HK ČR, Liberec, Brno
Partner Schools: CTU in Prague, FUA TU in Liberec, FA VUT in Brno, FAST VUT in Brno, FAST VŠB-TU Ostrava, ZF Mendel University in Brno, ARCHIP, CZU in Prague, FA STU in Bratislava
Main Media Partners: ARCHITECT+, Modern Town, Earch.cz, archiweb.cz
Media Partners: INTRO, ERA21, ASB, Roofs-Facades-Insulations, Builder, Construction, TV Architect, PROPAMÁTKY, FOR Cities and Municipalities, Wood&Construction, Inspiration, Sky paper

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