Young architects in Brno dislike the absence of open competitions

Brno - Young architects and urban planners from Brno, united in the GEN Brno group, are unhappy that the city is preparing a series of large public buildings for hundreds of millions of crowns for decades to centuries without open architectural competitions. Instead, they intend to build them in such a way that it is "to make it work", regardless of the impact on the future, said Gabriel Kurtis, a representative of the group, at a press conference today.

The members of the group want to bring the topic of quality architecture into public discourse. They plan to reach out to all political parties before the elections to find out what stance they will take in the creation of public buildings and spaces, said Kurtis, who is a candidate for the city council for Žít Brno. According to Radka Loukotová from the press department of the magistrate, there are many more architectural competitions than before. "For comparison, between 2010 and 2014, no competitions were announced," wrote ČTK.

The mentioned buildings that the city intends to construct in the coming years include an athletics hall for 450 million, an extension of the Lužánky swimming stadium for 93 million, a velodrome costing 300 to 600 million, an ice hockey hall for 1.4 billion, a football stadium for two billion, a new pavilion at the exhibition center for half a billion, and an entrance to the zoo for 300 million. "The project for the new centralized town hall is also problematic. The city purchased a finished project called CD Palace, which was designed 20 years ago, and just wants to make some minor adjustments. The town hall is a symbol of secular power and should be a representative building," Kurtis said. Loukotová did not specify why the city did not announce competitions for these constructions and added that the city would comment on individual projects later.

According to architects, the advantage of open international competitions is the possibility of obtaining a number of top-notch designs that consider not only quality architecture but also construction and operational costs. "If we want to continue the tradition of quality functionalist architecture in Brno, we need to start with the way the project is commissioned and designed. A quality design can save substantial money at all stages from preparation to operation," Kurtis said.

Quality public architecture, according to architects, sets standards for private investors as well. "There are many bad examples, some of which Brno cannot even be blamed for, such as the Justice Palace or the Employment Office on Herschpická," Kurtis said. He also mentioned the current reconstruction of Dominican Square, which is ultimately only being repaved and discussions are still ongoing regarding what will be done there.

Open competitions have been exceptional in Brno and have rarely come to fruition. These include the new train station under Petrov, the new design of Moravské náměstí, the revitalization of the Svratka riverbank, and the new housing estate Kaménky in Černovice. "Good implemented examples are Slovanské náměstí, Zelný trh, and the Reduta theater," said Kurtis. According to Loukotová, the number of competitions has significantly increased since the establishment of the Office of the Architect of the City of Brno. "In two years, there have been four competitions, of which two are open and two are narrower. The narrower ones involve a few selected architects being approached, and others can join," Loukotová stated. Some other competitions are currently ongoing and being prepared.

The Office of the Architect of the City of Brno also conducts so-called invited competitions. "That is a problem. They only approach selected architects, so there is no opportunity for more quality ideas to come together," Kurtis noted.

The city usually argues that this would cause significant delays, but it is typically only a year at most. The second argument is appeals by architects and further delays in preparation. "But if the competition is well-prepared, no one appeals," Kurtis believes.