Clarification from ČKA regarding the intention of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University to announce a competition for a design proposal

The Czech Chamber of Architects unequivocally welcomed the effort of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University (UJEP) to apply an architectural competition (more precisely, a design competition according to the public procurement law) in the development of the university campus, which is the best possible solution for selecting a designer in terms of the overall quality of public investment, including the level of investment and operational costs as well as the transparency of the process. The specific intention, for which the architectural competition was to be applied, is the new construction of the Faculty of Science on the site of the currently standing former polyclinic building, which is currently the subject of professional debate about whether this building should be declared a cultural monument or demolished.
Given that the planned new construction already has a project in the stage of documentation for zoning proceedings and the issued zoning decision precisely defines the location of the new building, its volumetric solution, including operational connections, it raises the question of whether the architectural competition in this situation would actually provide the organizer with the expected qualitative benefits. Any potential participant in the architectural competition would have fundamentally limited options for proposing an alternative solution, which would likely focus on facade solutions and other purely technical details corresponding to subsequent project phases. Last but not least, the announcement of the architectural competition would entail the obligation for the organizer to resolve copyright issues with the current project documentation developer. In such a case, the Czech Chamber of Architects considers the use of an architectural competition to be an unduly complicated approach. This would call into question some of the basic principles of architectural competitions, which include seeking the optimal concept for the distribution of the construction program in the given space and the protection of copyright.
The optimal solution would be to announce an architectural competition for the initial conceptual phase of the new construction's placement with a known building program and reasonably set spatial limits. The architectural competition can also be applied if it is ultimately decided to preserve the original building. Similarly, an architectural competition can be advantageously used, for example, in searching for the optimal development plan for the university campus or in any of the other investment intentions of UJEP, for which it will receive full related support from the Czech Chamber of Architects.
University campuses in the Czech Republic are currently undergoing intensive construction development. They are potential carriers of a high-quality built environment at the highest level. Unfortunately, the opportunity to find and apply quality is most often overlooked, and decisions are made solely based on the criteria of short-term low cost and speed. The Czech Chamber of Architects supports activities aimed at remedying this unfortunate state.

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