Is the South Bohemian Philharmonic made of modules?

The Vizovice company KOMA Modular, which drew attention to itself, among other things, by constructing the acclaimed Czech pavilion at EXPO 2015 in Milan, is organizing an international conceptual architectural competition for a cultural multifunctional center project in České Budějovice with the support of the South Bohemian Philharmonic.

The South Bohemian Philharmonic has long suffered from not having a concert venue that meets the acoustic and social conditions required by the orchestra. This has been the case despite the fact that a project called Rejnok by world-renowned architect Jan Kaplický was created in 2008. However, due to the high cost of 2 billion crowns and the potential operational expenses, it has not come to fruition to this day. An alternative could be an incomparably cheaper modular multifunctional building. Whether this idea is utopian or, on the contrary, realistic and attractive, could be answered by proposals from young architects from across Europe as part of the architectural conceptual competition ModulaArch, which will be announced at the beginning of March by the 2015 Company of the Year, the Vizovice-based KOMA Modular.

KOMA Modular has regularly announced student architectural competitions since 2007. Each time, the theme revolves around the various uses of modular construction systems. Students from universities of civil engineering and architecture have previously contemplated modular architecture and its application in flood-prone areas, the potential of modular construction to meet the needs for increasing capacity in kindergartens, and have also sought modular solutions for housing seniors or university students. The current eighth edition of the student competition differs from previous years primarily in that, for the first time in history, the competition is organized as international.

Is it possible to build a concert hall for the South Bohemian Philharmonic from modules?

The Vizovice company KOMA Modular, among whose achievements is also the prestigious award for the Czech pavilion at EXPO 2015 in Milan in the form of a bronze medal for architecture and building technology, wants to once again stimulate the discussion about constructing a concert hall in České Budějovice. "The Rejnok project is beautiful and unique; however, it is very difficult to finance this project and the potential operation of the building," explains KOMA's marketing director Martin Hart, why his company decided to announce an international architectural competition specifically for the cultural center project in České Budějovice. He adds: "This is a conceptual competition; it is not that we want to assert: an multifunctional center made of modules must be built in České Budějovice. We mainly want to show the possibilities of modular architecture, which is why we are announcing an international conceptual competition that our company is fully supporting."

The goal of the international conceptual competition ModulaArch, which is supported by prizes totaling 135,000 CZK and will be held in English, is to demonstrate the possibilities of modular architecture as such. The main advantages of modular construction would be incomparably lower construction and operational costs, very fast construction, and potentially easy expandability or relocatability.

However, is it really possible to design a high-quality concert hall from modules that would meet both acoustic demands and the requirements of an architecturally representative building for the South Bohemian Philharmonic? This is what the architectural conceptual competition ModulaArch aims to reveal. Architecture students from the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, and Poland or Slovakia will be invited to participate in the competition. The competition is intended for architecture and construction students, as well as graduates from architecture within 5 years of graduation, with architectural teams able to include other specialists, but at least 50% of the team must consist of students or graduates.

Modular building system

The modular building system has been very popular around the world for several decades; however, in the Czech Republic, despite the construction of the modular pavilion for EXPO, its potential remains underappreciated. "With this international competition, we want to show both the councilors of České Budějovice and, above all, the residents of the city, as well as a wide, and also professional public, what modular construction is capable of. Therefore, we have invited foreign architects from the Netherlands and Italy to participate in the jury, as well as the Czech virtuoso Václav Hudeček," Martin Hart explains.

Let us be surprised by the projects that young European architects will submit. Then perhaps the debate on the construction of a multifunctional cultural center in České Budějovice will gain even more momentum.

Official competition website (details and registration): www.modularch.cz