The ARCH 2014 award was won by zerozero for Kasárne/Kulturpark in Košice

On Thursday, November 6, 2014, the seventeenth ARCH Award was presented in the Moyzes Hall in Bratislava. The ARCH Award is a prestigious architecture award, awarded since 1998 by the influential professional magazine ARCH on architecture and other cultures, which has been published by Eurostav Publishing, Ltd. since 2006. The aim of the award is to highlight remarkable works from the domestic architectural scene and thus contribute to its further cultivation. The ARCH Award has a high professional credit, ensured by the participation of top European architects on the jury. Its specific feature is the rule that one cannot apply for it. Nominations for the ARCH Award are granted annually by the editorial board of the magazine, composed of prominent figures from the Slovak and Central European architectural scene.

The decision for the 2014 ARCH Award was made by an international jury consisting of Enrique Álvarez-Sala Walther (Spain), Andrea Bacová (editor-in-chief of ARCH magazine, Slovakia), Irena Fialová (Czech Republic), Juraj Hermann (Slovakia), and Andrej Hrausky (Slovenia) from September 10 to 12, 2014. The jury evaluated ten architectural works nominated for this year's award by the editorial board of the magazine. These were:

• Family House, Stupava (Pokorny architekti / Pavol Pokorný, collaboration: Martin Bujna),
• Barracks/Kulturpark, Košice (zerozero / Irakli Eristavi, author collaboration: Pavol Šilla, Marcel Benčík, Gabriel Boženík, Milan Vlček, Silvia Šillová),
• SPOTs, Wuppertal Street, Košice (ATELIER11 / Matej Mihalič, Martin Mihály), Važecká Street, Košice (Architectural studio Atrium / Michal Burák, Dušan Burák, Marek Ganz, collaboration: Marek Bakalár, Marek Dubiel),
• Renovation of an Apartment Building, Rimavská Sobota (gutgut / Roman Halmi, Peter Jurkovič, Lukáš Kordík, Števo Polakovič, Ivan Príkopský, Jana Benková),
• House K2, Kynceľová (Paulíny Hovorka Architekti / Branislav Hovorka, Martin Paulíny, collaboration on the interior: Zuzana Reháková),
• University Library, Catholic University, Ružomberok (a02 atelier / Stanislav Šutvaj, A-projekt / Ján Potoma, collaboration: Matúš Bišťan),
• Residential Complex Nova Terasa, Košice (Vallo Sadovsky Architects / Matúš Vallo, Oliver Sadovský, Branislav Husárik, Peter Janeček, Dušan Chupáč),
• IST - Family House, Bratislava-Čunovo (jrkvc / Peter Jurkovič, collaboration: Lukáš Kordík, Števo Polakovič),
• Apartment Complex Malý Dunaj III, Bratislava-Podunajské Biskupice (SPDe / Štefan Lichvár, Mária Lichvárová, Michal Petráš, Alexander Schleicher, co-author: Petra Macháčová, collaboration: Augustín Frolkovič, Matej Malina, Tomáš Meľuch, Tomáš Mihok, Zuzana Trnková),
• Recreational Cabin, Partizánska Ľupča (Martin Kusý, Jr.).

From the jury's evaluation:

Enrique Álvarez-Sala:
The architect had the opportunity to build something new - only and solely his own work. To cut down all the trees and construct a large new building, thanks to which he would be recognized by everyone. He could have done anything with the barracks, but he transformed them. Even though they look almost the same as before, they have become something entirely different. I would like to thank the architect for resisting the urge to build a new building. We already have more than enough buildings; we don't need more!

Juraj Hermann:
I consider this project to be conceptually very clean, perfectly realized down to the smallest details, with a clear material and color concept. It is a project of the highest European quality.

Andrea Bacová:
Kulturpark is a good example, a good message for future similar projects. I have been there for the third time this year and I always find new ideas, interesting solutions regarding the connection between historical and modern architecture into a homogeneous unity. It is a large complex and it is really necessary to see it with your own eyes and, above all, to experience it from the user's perspective.

Andrej Hrausky:
The new is indeed present, but it wants to remain invisible. It is very intelligent thinking about the whole issue - establishing a specific composition of the old and the new, and thus showing that the Barracks are no longer barracks.

Irena Fialová:
Kulturpark Košice is something that I consider to be at the highest European level. It is the best that can be seen. I do not think it could have been done better... It was the most complex project of all. It utilized the potential of the site to the maximum. It offers something that was not there before. I think it is an excellent example of how public spaces should look... there is not a single element - whether in the building, the park, or the public space - that has not been considered. And that is admirable. It is truly top-tier architecture, not just in design, concept, but also in execution.