Five studios will work on the visual identity of the new concert hall in Ostrava

Ostrava - The visual identity of the new concert hall in Ostrava will be developed by five studios. About forty interested parties from the Czech Republic and abroad applied for the competition. Eva Horáková, who represents the concert hall project, said this to ČTK today. The submitted concepts will be evaluated in the first round by a five-member jury at the end of August in Ostrava, which will then narrow the selection to three candidates for the second round. The winner of the two-round non-anonymous competition will be known by the end of this year.

The concert hall, along with the associated reconstruction of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava (DKMO), is being created according to the project of American architect Steven Holl. It will house, for instance, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The work is expected to be completed by mid-2028 and will cost more than four billion crowns.

The representatives of Ostrava and the cultural institutions themselves decided to find a new visual identity through an international competition. Almost four dozen graphic studios expressed interest in being included among the candidates, including both Czech creatives and designers working abroad. "This is a competition of extraordinary significance, which is why we prepared its process in collaboration with the organization Czechdesign, which has extensive experience with similar projects and ensures their professional and transparent course," said Deputy Mayor Lucie Baránková Vilamová (ANO).

In the first phase of the competition, five graphic studios were selected, which are now working on their proposals. These are the studios 20YY Designers, Gradual studio, HMS Design, Jan Bartoň, and Sudetype. According to the competition rules, all the mentioned studios will receive a sketch fee for their work. Representatives from these studios also participated in a briefing in Ostrava in June, where they could ask for detailed information concerning not only the construction of the new hall but also the history of the House of Culture or its future largest tenant, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The competitors are tasked with taking into account the visual identity of the Janáček Philharmonic, particularly due to the later connection of both brands within the new cultural complex.

"At the end of August, the jury will convene for the first round of the competition. All five approached graphic studios will present their proposals directly in Ostrava. The selection will then be narrowed down to three candidates for the second round, from which the jury will choose the winning proposal," said the managing director of DKMO, Jan Žemla. The winner is expected to be announced during the fall, and the public could see the new name and visual identity at the beginning of next year.

The submitted concepts will be evaluated by a five-member jury. Baránková Vilamová represents the founder in the jury. Žemla is there for the future operator and organizer of the competition. "Other members, who make up the so-called independent part of the jury, will be experts from the field of design recommended to us by the organization Czechdesign: Zuzana Lednická, Jiří Karásek, and Jakub Konvica," listed Žemla.

The costs associated with organizing the competition are around 370,000 crowns, with another approximately 200,000 crowns distributed as sketch fees to all five competition participants and as compensation for the independent jury members.

The new concert hall is expected to have world-class architectural and acoustic parameters, providing facilities not only for the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. It is set to open to visitors in 2028. The new building, designed by American architect Steven Holl's studio in cooperation with the Prague studio Architecture Acts, will be connected to the reconstructed building of the House of Culture of the City of Ostrava, thus creating a modern cultural complex.

Visitors can expect a concert hall with a capacity of 1,300 seats, a chamber hall for 515 spectators, a theater hall with a capacity of 490 seats, an educational center, a recording studio, a restaurant, and cafes. The cultural complex will also be the seat of the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, its hundred-member orchestra, and other staff. The attractiveness of this unique building is expected to draw top orchestras and soloists to Ostrava and offer a wide range of cultural activities.