ZČU will begin the construction of the Institute of Art and Design in Plzeň this autumn

Plzeň - Due to the crisis and high supplier demand, the construction of the new Institute of Art and Design (ÚUD) in Plzeň has reached nearly 60 percent of its original costs. It will begin this fall in the university campus of the University of West Bohemia (ZČU) in Borská Pole. Thanks to a competition in which nine companies applied, its price will be just under 200 million crowns. This was stated by the Vice-Rector of ZČU, František Ježek.
   "The original budget for the institute was over 300 million crowns," he added. According to the director of ÚUD, Josef Mištera, the awarded lower amount is now common. "Companies just need to survive, so they are going for the lowest bid. They are not calculating profits, they just don't want to incur losses. They want to stay in the market during the crisis and keep their employees," he said. All bidders operated around two-thirds of the original budget. Mištera has similar experiences with the construction of the interactive science center Techmania in Plzeň.
   "In the new building, we will start the academic year 2012/2013," stated Rector Josef Průša. According to Mištera, the institute should have been operating for three years by now, but funding got stuck in various places. The construction was approved by parliament and has been accounted for in the state budget for two years already.
   "The selection process has been completed, the decision was made solely on price, nine companies applied, and there was great interest," Ježek stated. Thanks to the competition, ZČU saved on the costs covered by the Ministry of Education, which finances the entire construction.
   "Next year, in addition to ÚUD, we will also build three research centers for the technical faculties. Construction companies in the region need not worry about a lack of work. Such contracts are comparable to highways, but in my eyes, they are somewhat more meaningful,” Ježek remarked. Next year, the campus will be one large construction site; we will announce about 400 tenders for all constructions, said Průša.
    ÚUD will have 6,000 square meters and a capacity of 550 students. Today, the institute has 450 students and 50 teachers who operate at six locations across Plzeň. "I expect that thanks to the new building, we will increase the number of students by another hundred," Mištera stated. The institute began in 2002 as part of the Faculty of Education at ZČU with 80 students in illustration and design.
    Thanks to Plzeň's recent success as the European Capital of Culture 2015, ÚUD is also planning the Světovar project, where, alongside a multifunctional cultural center, a branch of the Prague Museum of Applied Arts will be established. "We are already in talks with the management. We want to collaborate with this entity and plan to have some workshops at Světovar, as we intend to accredit new fields in the restoration of applied arts," the director added.