In the competition for the Ostrava concert hall, four studios are advancing

Ostrava - Four proposals advanced to the second round of the architectural competition for the design of a new concert hall in Ostrava from the original six. The city wants to have a clear winner by June. This was said to journalists today by Mayor Tomáš Macura (ANO).

The architectural competition for the construction of the concert hall was announced by the city last August. Initially, it directly approached three world-renowned studios: the team of American architect Steven Holl, the Polish Konior Studio, which designed the concert hall in Katowice, and the Danish studio Henning Larsen Architects, which designed the home of the philharmonic with a hall in Reykjavik. Later, from another 31 interested parties, the expert jury selected three additional studios based on references and submitted portfolios: Architecture Studio from France, German Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, and Dutch Van Dongen - Koschuch Architects and Planners.

The competition is anonymous, so the jury did not have the names assigned to the individual studios when making their selections. Only after eliminating two studios from the first round were the individual studios identified. The Dutch and Germans were eliminated from the competition.

"The eliminated studios now have the right to appeal the decision within 15 days. If they do not appeal, which I partly assume may not happen, then the remaining four proposals, which still remain anonymous, will proceed to the second round of the competition," said Macura.

Macura stated that all submitted proposals are interesting. The decision to eliminate the rejected proposals was based on the fact that one design placed the concert hall almost independently of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava, while the building should be part of it. The second proposal, on the other hand, presented the concert hall towards the street 28. října, where there is relatively dense traffic, including trams. The city was thus concerned about the impact of this factor on acoustics, which would likely make perfect acoustic assurance significantly more expensive. According to Macura, the remaining four proposals are completely different from one another, ranging from a futuristic building to an ultra-conservative object.

The new concert hall, with a capacity exceeding 1,000 seats, is expected to cost around 1.5 billion crowns excluding VAT. It will be located adjacent to the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava. The city requires that the building be exceptional not only from an architectural perspective but also have top-notch acoustics. The hall will serve as a venue for the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The orchestra is currently based and performs in the cultural house built between 1956 and 1961 in the spirit of modern classicism, which does not meet the requirements for modern concert facilities.