Guide to the Architecture of the South Bohemian Region and Upper Austria

The dual publication GUIDE TO ARCHITECTURE deals with public buildings that have arisen since 1990 in smaller municipalities and towns of the South Bohemian Region and Upper Austria. It does not primarily focus on their aesthetic qualities, but rather on those realizations that came about as a result of an architectural competition, or are the outcome of long-term conceptual collaboration between local government and an architect. The result is a selection of 75 community buildings of various scales and typologies (town halls, fire stations, schools, mortuaries, village squares, heating plants, or collection yards) that should serve as examples worthy of emulation. The guide is intended for anyone interested in contemporary architecture built from public budgets and who has some way to influence the process of its creation. It encourages visits to specific public buildings and public spaces and provides important information and data about them (e.g., the method of selecting an architect, usable area, or investment costs).

Approximately 60% of the presented buildings were created through an architectural competition, where the investor and a selected professional and independent jury could compare several specific proposals. This way, it is possible to evaluate not only the overall architectural and urban planning solution but also the relationship between the price and quality of specific proposals. It is quite surprising how little attention is paid to the analysis of the entire process in which buildings are created, representing a total volume of several billion annually. A database of quality examples should, in our opinion, be an absolute matter of course, as should public discussion about how we want to build and what the environment we spend most of our lives in should look like. The examples mentioned demonstrate that building a good house is not as complicated as it seems if there is interest in it.

The price for the dual publication is 250 CZK.
More information here.

The Association CBArchitektura is an informal group of architects who feel an unwritten responsibility toward their city and region and strive to influence both its current form and the discussion about longer-term visions. The aim of the project is not to design specific buildings but to create a platform for sharing opinions about contemporary architecture and urbanism. We are convinced that architecture is a reflection of society and that it surrounds us every day, throughout our lives.
The target group of the project is citizens and city representatives, and all activities of the association are non-profit. Individual themes address basic questions such as how to build - why to build - what to build, how to choose an architect, what an architectural competition or architectural workshop can bring, and further the topic of public buildings and public space.