In the second round of the competition for the design of the Prague Market, six proposals advanced

Prague – Six proposals have advanced to the second round of the international architectural competition for the design of public spaces between the buildings of the Holešovice Prague Market. The jury judged 18 proposals in the first round of the competition, prepared by studios from nine countries around the world. The winner of the competition is expected to be announced in spring 2022. This was stated today by Pavel Vyhnánek, the deputy mayor of Prague (Prague for Themselves). The owner of the Prague Market complex is the capital city of Prague.

"We will evaluate the next round (of the architectural competition) at the beginning of next year," said Vyhnánek, who is responsible for both the finances of the metropolis and its budget, as well as the development of the Prague Market. Vyhnánek is one of the jurors for the competition regarding the future appearance of the complex.

Prague announced the competition this July. Participants were tasked with designing the appearance of entrances and public spaces in the Prague Market. The proposals received in the first round were assessed by a jury, headed by architect and urbanist Gabu Heindlová from the Vienna studio Gabu Heindl Architektur. Other jury members include architects Régis Guignard, Irakli Eristavi, Štěpánka Šmídová, Marek Obtulovič, Jiří Žid, and Jiří Kotal. The winning proposal, according to which the appearance of the market will be adjusted, will come from the second round. Prague will preliminarily pay several hundred million crowns for the reconstruction based on the winning proposal, previously stated the spokesperson for the Prague municipal authority, Vít Hofman.

The appearance of the Prague Market has been changing in recent years. This year, the city had two buildings demolished at the entrance to the complex from Jateční Street. According to Vyhnánek, the buildings were from the 1990s and did not fit into the historical appearance of the market. Their removal also opened up the market space more, stated Vyhnánek. According to earlier statements by the market curator Michal Tošovský, the two two-story buildings with slightly sloping gable roofs were in poor technical condition.

In the next 15 years, Prague aims to invest up to two billion crowns into the restoration of the monumentally protected Prague Market in Holešovice. The requirement is that the complex should be a multifunctional space, which will be visited by people of different ages and with various needs. According to the city's plans, the operation of the market should be economically and ecologically sustainable.

The Prague Market complex was originally the Prague slaughterhouse and was established in 1895. It functioned as a slaughterhouse until the 1980s, when it began to change into a market. The complex was declared a cultural monument in 1993. It covers an area of 103,060 m².