The leadership of Prague has decided that the headquarters of the Philharmonic will be at Vltavská

photo: Matěj Baťha, Wikimedia Commons

Prague - The capital city will have an urban study conducted for the area around Vltavská metro station, which includes plans for the construction of a new concert hall. Today, the city council decided on the location of the hall. The City Institute of Planning and Development (IPR) is to prepare the document by the end of February next year. Following that, there will be an architectural competition for the hall. In the future, the city could either lease it to the Czech Philharmonic or it could host the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK.

According to the councilor for culture, Jan Wolf (KDU-ČSL/Trojakoalice), the new hall could be used by the Prague Philharmonic in the future. In such a case, the Czech Philharmonic would continue to be based at Rudolfinum and would only guest at the new modern hall. Statements from the Czech Philharmonic are being sought by ČTK.

The location of Vltavská was recommended by a commission composed of politicians, representatives of the City Institute of Planning and Development (IPR), and also members of the Society for the Construction of a New Concert Hall in Prague, among whom were architect Josef Pleskot and the recently deceased conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. "The commission ultimately agreed that the most suitable place is Vltavská, which has an ideal layout and ownership rights, as most of the parcels are owned by Prague or Prague 7," Wolf stated.

The city wants to build a new hall due to the inadequate capacity of existing venues. According to Mayor Adriana Krnáčová (ANO), Prague also lacks modern architecture, and the concert hall represents an opportunity to build an attractive structure. Currently, there are three larger venues for classical music in the metropolis: Rudolfinum, the Municipal House, and the Prague Congress Center. However, city leadership states that none of these halls have sufficient capacity, in addition, sound productions cannot be held in the Municipal House, and the Congress Center has acoustic problems.

The advantages of the selected location, according to the approved material, include the attractiveness of the location near the Vltava waterfront and direct connections to public transport. Conversely, problems may arise from the need to partially change the zoning plan, the unresolved urban planning of the entire Holešovice area, or the relatively shallow metro station. IPR is currently preparing the assignment for the study, addressing the entire surroundings of the metro station. It is to be completed by the end of February next year, followed by an international architectural competition for the actual building. According to earlier estimates, the new home of the Philharmonic could be built between 2023 and 2025, costing two to two and a half billion crowns.

The construction of a new concert hall has been discussed in Prague since the early 1990s. In the past, a proposal emerged for a building nicknamed the Ray, which the late architect Jan Kaplický created for České Budějovice to be located on Štvanice Island. The city leadership has backed away from placing the building on Štvanice; however, the project can still apply to the competition for Vltavská. It would need to be revised, however, because Prague wants to build a building for 1800 to 2200 visitors, while Kaplický's design has about half that capacity.