Brno has announced a public competition for the design of statues for Loose and Středa

Brno - Brno will build statues commemorating architect Adolf Loos and theologian Martin Středa. The estimated cost is around five million crowns, said the mayor's deputy Matěj Hollan (Žít Brno) to ČTK. The city has announced a public art competition for this purpose, which will conclude in March next year. The statues themselves are expected to be erected in 2019.

The city council approved the announcement of the competition. The statue commemorating Loos will be located in the park at Janáčkovo náměstí because his birthplace stood in the adjacent Kounicova street where today's hotel Continental is located. "Although he is a native of Brno, his only preserved work here is the interior of the dining room of the Bauer's villa at the exhibition grounds. Therefore, I am glad that another element will emerge to commemorate this great figure of modern Czech architecture," said Hollan.

According to him, the depiction is entirely up to the creativity of the author. "It can be a figurative statue, but it can also emerge from Loos's architectural work and reflect it freely," added the deputy.

The figurative statue of Father Martin Středa, a significant representative of the Jesuits, will be placed at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary at the corner of Jezuitská and Beethovenova street. "Father Středa served in this church and is also buried there," said Hollan.

Středa was the rector of the Jesuit college during the siege of Brno by Swedish troops and a close associate of the commander of the Brno defense, Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches. He participated in the defense of the city by organizing students, apprentices, and citizens and served as a spiritual and moral pillar for the defenders of Brno.

The statues of both figures will be created as part of the project Statues for Brno. Works referencing Mozart, Edison, or Skácel have already been created. In the future, statues could also be dedicated to Queen Eliška Rejčka, gymnast and resistance fighter Jan Gajdoš, or architect Bohuslav Fuchs.