The Rudolf Eitelberger Award 2017 knows its winners

The Rudolf Eitelberger Award 2017 is an exhibition that maps the best of architecture, urbanism, and heritage care in the Olomouc region over the past two years. "This year it was accompanied by two anniversaries," explains the chairwoman of the association For a Beautiful Olomouc, Michaela Johnová-Čapková. "The small one refers to the fifth year of the competition, and the large two-hundred refers to the date of Rudolf Eitelberger's birth. He was born in Olomouc in 1817, and the award has borne his name since the first year we organized it in 2008." This native of Olomouc has indelibly etched his mark into the history of cultural Europe. He was an active commentator on architectural events, editor of the Wiener Zeitung. He can also be regarded as the father of heritage care and museum studies in Austria-Hungary. In Vienna, he founded and directed the magnificent Museum of Applied Arts (today's popular MAK). As the very first professor of art history in Vienna, he contributed to the development of the academic field, which continues at the Faculty of Arts of Olomouc University.

The architectural award is organized by the association For a Beautiful Olomouc. Its member Martina Mertová explains: "For each year, we invite a new independent committee that includes leading Czech architects, art historians, experts, and officials from municipal and state administration related to the monitored field. Starting this year, a city councilor, whose competence includes urbanism or city development, also participates in the jury for functional feedback." This time, the results of the award were determined by Kateřina Bečková, Jana Křenková, Jitka Ressová, Rostislav Švácha (chairman of the jury), František Chupík, David Mareš, Pavel Nasadil, and Aleš Jakubec.

This year, the committee selected from just under forty identified buildings, inspected about fifteen realizations on site, from which they recommended seven for the finals. The main prize went to the Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi in Olomouc at Biskupské náměstí, whose interior modifications were undertaken by the authorial collective of architects Vojtěch Jemelka, Jan Mléčka, Jiří Marek, and artists Peter Demek and Jan Jemelka.


Architect Jitka Ressová, in her role as a commissioner, comments on the winning laureate: "The modest material solution supports the transformation of the small chapel space and brings an unexpected generosity. The change in the layout of the liturgical space is supported by a central metal chandelier. This significant interior element, along with other inputs, is a very successful work with ornament that enriches the interior and connects the contemporary architectural input with the decoration of the neo-Romanesque chapel."

At the festive announcement during the Olomouc celebrations of Architecture Days, the winners received an award in the form of an artifact from sculptor Jaroslav Koléšek - a kind of "helmet" or "dome" made from blown glass. The remaining six nominations and all investors received a diploma in the form of a graphic by artist Zbyněk Baladrán. Who were the other best? Mertová lists: "The rehabilitation of the villa of Eduard Šrot in Olomouc by Miroslav Pospíšil (atelier-r), the football stand in Olomouc - Řepčín by Barbora Šimonová and Petra Gajdová, the family house of the Franc family in Lošov by MOLO architects (Patrik Zamazal and Tereza Kučerová), the Memorial of the Unity of Brethren in Přerov by "nazemi architekti" (Zbyněk Musil, David Zajíček), the exhibition of the Hunting-Forestry Museum at Úsov Castle by Rusina Frei Architekti (Martin Rusina, Martin Frei). For the first time, a civic initiative also received the award - a well-prepared Architecture Day 2016 in Šumperk by originally Šumperk architects Zbyněk Mrkus, Zdeněk Dohnálek, Radn Volnohradský, and the Šumperk Beautifying Association.