Ještěd in the cage 29 - festive announcement

We have completed the 29th edition of Ještěd f Kleci! What was on this year's program and who won?

The entire semester at the Faculty of Arts and Architecture of TU Liberec is summarized in the evaluated competition of our works. Alongside this, there are additional accompanying events. We focused once again on connecting the faculty with the city. We believe that who better than architecture students can convey cultural significance to the city. We tried to demonstrate this by revitalizing forgotten places in Liberec, where we organized accompanying events.
It all started on Wednesday, February 1st, when the opening show took place in the old building on the Liberec hill – the abandoned Lebig villa, also known as Wolker's sanatorium, featuring a presentation by the newly formed theater group Chátra, which brought the space to life with immersive theater followed by live techno with four DJs. The Chátra project is a semester project of master's student Jaroslav Smejkal, developed under the supportive guidance of studio head Petr Janda and Ještěd f Kleci. A similar point in the program had never been part of JFK before, and thanks to this, the experiment received a lot of positive feedback.
On Thursday, February 2nd, there was a debate with our young & fresh jurors in the Small Exhibition Hall at the main square in Liberec. The debate with this year's jury, which included curator Kamila Huptychová, urban planner Zuzana Poláková, sculptor Matouš Lipus, landscape architect Marek Kratochvíl, and architect Adam Lacina, discussed their beginnings in the field and mental hygiene, and a stimulating discussion arose with the audience during the event. During the discussion, 7 nominated students were announced.
On Friday, February 3rd, there was a day-long exhibition of works in the studio. In the morning, the program included decorating drag baked lambs, led by Markéta Špundová and Viktorie Macánová. The lambs were subsequently a contribution to the evening tombola. From lunch onward, there was a tap in the studio.
This was followed by the evening announcement of the winners, with Václav Podestát winning for art with the project Visit and Štěpán Perný for architecture with the project Housing in Pardubice. Then there was a tombola with prizes, mostly consisting of works by students from FUA. Finally, there was an afterparty at Argonaut club, which is also a venue with many studios in the spaces of a former factory.
The band Body of Pain and DJs Dahø and Xadam from the Technørd group played here, and dancing continued until early morning.

Comments from the jury on the winning projects:

Václav Podestát – Visit (atelier Prokeš – Loskot)_Matouš
The author of the winning project achieved a straightforward yet multi-layered message in his work Visit using simple means. The viewer discovers an intimate experience with nature through their presence. The strengths of this work are not only the lightness and purity of execution but also the element of surprise and gradual unveiling of the work by the viewer. The artistic experience is non-transferable; the work speaks primarily through itself.

Štěpán Perný - Housing Pardubice (atelier Janda, Němečková – Zedníčková, Rezek) _Marek
In his design for an apartment building in Pardubice, the author presents a sovereign example of distinctive architecture that sensitively fits into the surrounding structure of the city. It opens a debate about the current demands for housing and the notion of home as such.
By selecting the plot, it addresses the issues created by the current building on the site and brings new qualities to the public space in the form of a multifunctional ground floor and connections to the inner courtyard. The jury appreciates the sensitive approach with a distinctive sculptural character that creates the identity of the house and the place for its inhabitants. The dynamic space of the internal arrangement and residential roofs works with different types of private and shared parts that stimulate the community coexistence of the residents and offer space for play, views, or working with vegetation.
The jury critically perceives the layout of some spaces and reflects on the solution of vertical communications and the efficiency of the entire project. Nevertheless, we appreciate that the project pushes the boundaries of thinking about architecture for residential buildings, which typically succumb to technical requirements.
Other nominated projects for art included Filip Zeman's project Invisible Data, Karolína Sedláčková's Many Small Manifestos, and for architecture Daniela Kvapilová with the project Zen Gardens, František Fiedler with the rural landscape, and Vladimír Vacík with the project for the Cold War memorial. Special recognition was given to Jaroslav Smejkal for the project Chátra.
All projects will be published in the coming days on our social media and website, where you can read more about them.
Thank you to everyone who came, our sponsors, and we look forward to the next edition!

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