<h1>Known results of the ModulArch 2016 competition</h1>

It is time to present the awarded and recognized designs of the student architectural competition in České Budějovice. Last week, the international jury of the Modularch 2016 competition met. The theme of this year's edition of the student conceptual architectural competition was the design of a multipurpose building for the South Bohemian Philharmonic with a variable hall for up to 1,000 spectators in České Budějovice. The results were officially announced on Tuesday, June 22, 2016.

The competition organizer dedicated a total amount of 5,000 EUR for awards. This amount will be divided among the authors of the competition designs who successfully made it to the finals and placed in the top three in the overall ranking. The jury additionally awarded four more competition designs, which impressed them with their authors' interesting approaches to the given theme. The jury granted them honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention for Architecture was awarded to the design by a team of architecture students from the Iranian University in Tehran consisting of Saina Shayanjoo, Navid Jamali, Roozbeh Ghanbarzadeh, and Yasmin Tajik. Honorable Mention for Functional Solution goes to the Czech Technical University in Prague, represented in the competition by a team of students (and alumni) from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture, consisting of Anna Marie Černá, Kristýna Schulzová, and Jiří Kugl. A team of Polish architecture students, Anna Moskwa, Michal Motyl, and Kamila Kowal, all from the Poznań University of Technology, convinced the jury with their approach to the solution of the modular building and thus received Honorable Mention for Aesthetic Modular Solution. From an urban planning perspective, the jury was most impressed by the proposal from Japanese architecture student Haruko Matsui from Waseda University, who received Honorable Mention for Original Urban Concept for his design.

Winners

Third Place and a cash prize of 1,000 EUR was awarded to the design by Tomáš Jelínek, a student of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague. The metaphorical silver medal, Second Place, and a reward of 1,500 EUR went to the tandem of students from the Faculty of Architecture in Brno, Martin Kůs and Pavel Čučka. And first place? First Place and a cash prize of 2,500 EUR goes to the capital of Chile, Santiago de Chile, to the local university's Faculty of Architecture, specifically to architecture student Rodrigo Vargas. And how does the jury evaluate the winning competition designs?

1st Place | The project is based on a remarkable architectural plan inspired by the historical layout of the city plan. The project was very well presented and clearly separated the main core of the hall from the adjacent spaces and facilities. The jury appreciates not only this separation but also the way both parts cleverly work with modular architecture. The building, including its ancillary spaces, refers in its shape to the historic city walls and can be easily modified concerning future needs and requirements, such as the addition of more modules.

2nd Place | The jury appreciated the originality of this urban concept. The location of the concert hall maximizes separation from the traffic artery. This design uniquely considers a true courtyard, closing off the old residential complex on the northern side of the plot. However, there are two functional problems that, according to the jury, were not satisfactorily resolved: the first is the underground connection between the stage and the facilities (is this solution optimal in terms of operations?); the second is the size of the concert hall, which seems smaller than specified in the brief.

3rd Place | The project is excellently balanced in all aspects and evaluated criteria. The volumetric masses are well designed in relation to the surrounding development. The size of the open space seems to correspond well with the size of the city. The project effectively utilizes modular technologies, which it thoughtfully integrates into the specific urban context. The modesty of the architectural concept in this case can be qualified as a shortcoming, as it can be assumed that the building of the philharmonic should become an architectural landmark to attract visitors.

The international jury emphasized the quality of the architectural-urban solution, the layout and functional solutions of the prepared projects, as well as originality in their evaluations.

The competition was organized in collaboration with the South Bohemian Philharmonic, which defined its needs along with representatives of the city of České Budějovice, who participated in selecting the plot. The city's chief architect - Ing. arch. Jan Němec served on the competition jury. The international jury included Dutch architect Caroline Bijvoet and Italian architect Joseph di Pasquale, who was the jury chairman.

For more information on the competition results, please visit the website www.modularch.cz, where you can view all 30 competition designs submitted by young architects from 18 countries across 5 continents.