River Svratka Embankment - competition results

Brno already knows what the Svratka riverfront could look like. The architectural-landscaping competition, which addressed both banks from Riviera to Spielberg Office Park, was won by the team of Professor Ivan Ruller.
The planned revitalization of the Svratka banks is linked to flood prevention measures. An equally important task that the city assigned to architects in the competition was to make the river accessible to the public and to create a pleasant space in the center of Brno where its residents could spend their leisure time. The core idea of the winning design is to enable an interesting walking path along both banks. The authors also considered the dignified movement of disabled citizens. Cyclists and skaters will have their own track. The left bank will have a purely architectural character – urban – with a colonnade and terraces, while the right bank will be more natural.
“The winning team managed to find a solution that is very attractive and utilizes all possibilities to get people as close to the water's surface as possible. Professor Ruller's team handled the assignment the best. The riverfront could become one of the most attractive spaces in the broader center of Brno in just a few years,” said Deputy Mayor and jury member Martin Ander.
Professor Ivan Ruller is a native of Brno and one of the most respected architects on the domestic scene, who celebrated his ninetieth birthday last year. He is the author of Janáček Theatre, for example, and also the Rondo Hall, which touches the area in question. Alongside him, Václav Čermák, Miroslav Korbička, Miloš Trenz, and Petr Valíček worked on the winning design for the Svratka riverfront.
A total of 21 teams participated in the “Svratka Riverfront” competition, ten of which were domestic and eleven foreign. Proposals arrived not only from European countries such as the Netherlands, Portugal, Norway, or France but also from Japan and Colombia. Altogether, the participants represented 124 architects, urban planners, landscape architects, and engineers, contributing 36,000 hours of work.
Organizational team spokesperson Igor Kovačević comments on the competition: "For us, the Svratka Riverfront represents a very significant competition – potentially groundbreaking for the entire Czech Republic. Its core was solving a challenging engineering structure, and I’m really pleased that the competitors managed to present a whole range of quality ideas. I am also glad that Mr. Ruller's team won, as they show us younger generations that a positive spirit is key for good architecture."
A total of three top proposals were awarded. The second prize was awarded to the German studio bauchplan and the third prize went to the Czech-British team composed of the offices consequence forma, Djao-Rakitine, and JV Projekt VH. The jury also awarded two prizes to proposals that brought partial stimulating and exceptional ideas to the topic. The authors of all three awarded proposals will be invited for further negotiations with the city soon, and a contract for further design work will be signed with one of them.
The competition was conducted completely anonymously, and architects could submit their proposals in Czech or English. The jury, which evaluated the proposals, was chaired by Brno architect Aleš Burian from the Burian-Křivinka studio, further consisting of Deputy Mayor Martin Ander, city district representative Filip Chvátal, and deputy mayor of Židenice Petr Kunc. Also present were Antonín Tůma, the appointed general director of the Morava Basin, and experienced Brno architects Michal Palaščák and landscape architect Klára Stachová. Foreign experts were also invited to the jury: Austrian architect and urban planner Susan Kraupp, co-author of the revitalization of the banks of the Vienna Donaukanal, and French landscape architect Emmanuel Jalbert from the In Situ office, which has numerous urban riverfront renewal projects behind it.

Competition Results:

1st prize – 550,000 CZK

Ivan Ruller; collaboration: Václav Čermák, Miroslav Korbička, Miloš Trenz, Petr Valíček – Brno, Czech Republic

2nd prize – 400,000 CZK

bauchplan; collaboration: Kay Strasser, Fernando Nebot Gomez, Eleni Boutsika-Palles, Štefan Zifčák – Munich, Germany

3rd prize – 300,000 CZK

CONSEQUENCE FORMA / Janica Šipulová, Martin Sládek, Petra Buganská, Iva Tomková; DJAO-RAKITINE / Irène Djao-Rakitine, Chun Wing Fok, Hortense Blanchard; JV PROJEKT VH / Jiří Vítek, Michaela Vacková – Brno, London, Czech Republic, Great Britain

award – 100,000 CZK

Le Studio Dièse, Atelier d’altérations urbaines / Guillaume Barnavon, Charles Bouscasse, Denis Brochard, Jacques Ippoliti, Marion Lacas – Paris, France

award – 100,000 CZK

Linda Boušková, Ivan Gogolák, Lukáš Grasse, Pavel Grasse, Filip Musálek; collaboration: Michal Dvořák, Petr Hrdlička, Pavla Janečková, Petra Pavlatová – Brno, Olomouc, Prague, Czech Republic

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