Landscape Festival Prague 2022 - opening

Launch: June 21, 2022, at 6:00 PM, Cargo Station Žižkov, north wing, entrance B2
Duration: June 22 - October 2, 2022

The Summer Landscape Festival will once again present artistic-architectural interventions and works by renowned creators as well as students. The interpretation of their interventions in selected locations will offer a new reading of relationships in significant infrastructural nodes of Prague. The festival returns to the station, the place where it managed to initiate a professional discourse among politicians, investors, urban planners, architects, designers, artists, and the general public in 2014. This time, it will focus on four transportation brownfields in Prague: Smíchov Station, the area around Florence, Palmovka, and Cargo Station Žižkov. With the idea of collectively addressing the theme of train stations, we were approached by the allied Festival m3/art in space, and Jiří Sulženko, the director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Prague City Hall, recommended that we focus on transportation development sites.

We selected four locations undergoing urban and architectural transformation. Each of them is located in a different district and is at a different stage of transformation. There is agreement on the development of some, while for others, professional discussion is ongoing, and preliminary studies are being created; some have already undergone international competitions for both the whole and for specific areas. All locations are experiencing active development and activist movements, and they are primarily in a mode of expectation, wondering if they too will become a shining example of quality urban development in the metropolis. This includes enlightened and exemplary integration of visual art into the new public spaces of these development areas, which should have a full-fledged partner enabling the creation of quality social ties among all groups of the population – residents and visitors. Whether there will also be enough affordable housing, leading to diverse social inclusion, is a second question. Most architects are striving to ensure that buildings that have already been newly constructed or will be realized here meet sustainability certification. Our task is to describe the current situation through the prism of festival acupuncture and offer visitors our perspective, in cooperation with landowners or investors, urban planners, architects, and artists. And, of course, also with politicians from both Greater Prague and the districts to which the respective areas belong. This is sometimes a challenging dialogue, influenced neither positively by the post-covid effect nor the current economic situation.

SMÍCHOV STATION
It can be said that in this location, a dialogue has been successfully conducted among the professional public, investors, and politicians similar to that found west of our borders. It seems that after the Anděl area, which has truly become a new center of Smíchov, the larger Smíchov Station area will also undergo transformation in a similar spirit. The master plan from the A69 studio is a solid framework for a new urban structure, whose green axis will allow for the permeability of this area even for pedestrians.

FLORENC – MASARYKOVO STATION – KRENOVKA
The cult classic Florenc 13:30 is a beautiful reminder of the "good old times." What new times await the most complicated transportation hub in Prague? Partially, this is hinted at by the winning project of the international competition Florenc 21 by the consortium of studios A69, UNIT architects, and Igor Marko & Placemakers. The vision of a new cultural and social program under the Negrelli Viaduct shows possibilities for new transformation, also verified by activities in the Karlín Barracks or the cultural center Krenovka, where Unijazz and Tanec Praha are currently opening their spaces. Perhaps the vision of the Museum Mile, which will start at Vítkov Hill, will come to fruition and will include, for example, the Ponec Theatre and the Railway Museum, bringing visitors all the way to Wenceslas Square. It will create new connection axes between Lower Žižkov, Karlín, and Prague 1.

PALMOVKA – LIBEŇ STOP
Palmovka can be perceived as a parallel to Nový Smíchov. However, it is striking that this very complicated transportation area is still waiting for transformation into a fully functional area, yet the ongoing activities of all stakeholders inspire hope. Currently, there stands an architectural torso by architect Josef Pleskot, while local homeless individuals are carving a path through the Jewish cemetery. The area near the Libeň docks has already undergone a developmental transformation, but the Palmovka intersection remains desolate. Hopefully, in time, the vision for Bohumil Hrabal Square and the overall urban concept of the UNIT studio will be fulfilled. Still, this urban jungle retains its charm, even if not as much as during the times of Hrabal, Bondy, and Boudník. The synagogue stands, the Jewish cemetery is buried, and the Libeň Bridge awaits radical repairs. Perhaps in time, Prague's development companies will manage to advocate for a connection across the former railway embankment to Karlín's Rustonka, providing the city with a valuable promenade.

CARGO STATION ŽIŽKOV
In the broader area of NNŽ, a new district is set to emerge within a decade, where around 20 thousand new residents should live. A unique functionalist building will become the center of social life, which should integrate quality civic facilities and cultural activities at an international level. Currently, a Park Quarter is being built at Basilejské náměstí, and professional and political debates are underway about the form of the preliminary study that will clearly define this area urbanistically. Temporary cultural life has vanished for a few years, and the architectural complex NNŽ has become once again solely a tool for economic activities. In the front building, leading Czech visual artist Petr Písařík has his studio, and his work is expected to spread into other areas of the campus as part of the LF. If additional investment projects can be realized as soon as possible, such as the Nádraží Žižkov Residence by the Dutch studio BNTHMCRWL, the development of the area could progress towards fulfilling the slogan "Žižkov is – and will increasingly be – a great place to live".

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