The leadership of the metropolis will decide on the location of the concert hall at Vltavská

photo: Matěj Baťha, Wikimedia Commons

Prague - The capital city wants to develop an urban study of the area around the Vltavská metro station, which includes the construction of a new concert hall. The location of the concert hall will be approved by the councilors on Tuesday. The preparation of the study and subsequent architectural competition for the construction will be the responsibility of the city's Institute of Planning and Development (IPR). Initially, there was talk of building the hall on Štvanice.

The material is based on the recommendations of the committee established for the preparation of the construction. According to the material, the advantages of the area around Vltavská include the attractiveness of the location near the Vltava River embankment and direct connection to public transport. On the other hand, problems may arise from the necessity to partially change the zoning plan, the urban indeterminacy of the entire Holešovice area, or the relatively shallow metro station. Therefore, the urbanistic solution for the entire locality around the metro will precede the competition for the construction itself. "The construction of the concert hall and the cultivation of the entire area can kick-start the development of the whole region," the material states.

According to IPR spokesperson Marek Vácha, the assignment of the study is currently being prepared. "We are preparing the documents; verification studies are underway regarding the tram line and similar matters," he told ČTK.

The construction of a new concert hall has been discussed in Prague since the early 1990s. The reason is the low capacity and quality of existing halls. Prague has three larger venues suitable for classical music: Rudolfinum, the Municipal House, and the Prague Congress Center. However, according to the city's leadership, none of them has sufficient capacity; furthermore, the Municipal House cannot accommodate amplified productions, and the Congress Center has acoustic issues. According to the city's councilor for culture, Jan Wolf (KDU-ČSL/Trojkoalice), the new home for the Prague Philharmonic could be built between 2023 and 2025 and would cost between two and two and a half billion crowns.

In the past, there was a proposal for a building nicknamed "Ray" to stand on Štvanice Island, designed by the late architect Jan Kaplický for České Budějovice. The city's leadership has stepped back from placing the structure on Štvanice; however, the project could still enter the competition at Vltavská. It would need to be revised, as Prague wants to build a building for 1,800 to 2,200 visitors, while Kaplický's design has approximately half that capacity.