Lead Dusán 2011 - Ing. arch. Regina Loukotová, PhD. (Archip)

The disappointment of the jurors over the level of the submitted works led to the idea of not awarding the Lead Dušan prize and to suspend the awarding of the Lead Dušan prize.

Nearly twenty years ago, we as students of this faculty established the prize with the aim of opening the studio doors to practicing architects who have nothing to do with the school - they are shocked by most of the projects - and thereby facilitate a change of educators. At that time, we also compiled a catalog of the faculty's professors' works for the same purpose. We tried to lay the foundation for a quality library - unfortunately, all without success.

The awarding of the Lead Dušan prize has become a worn-out routine - most jurors are surprised by the poor quality and quantity of the work submitted, and in the end, they recognize a few good projects, as well as the now-frequently repeated names of studio leaders - only Šika, Lábus, Roubík, Bočan, Šrámková have been replaced by Hájek, Šépka, Koucký, Florián, Kroupa.

I do not see the problem in the students' work, but in their guidance and in the project assignments. Conventional assignments prevail – for all, at least the eternal theme "villa for a wealthy entrepreneur" - without clarification of urban, let alone landscape contexts. The extension of assignments into other areas or fields is hardly found.

In the projects, I miss "...that superstructure that makes architecture art." (Jan Línek, 2009). "As if energy, courage to take risks, breaking barriers is missing." (Zdeněk Lukeš, 2005). "I miss an openness and relaxed atmosphere here, a feeling that the school belongs to both the educators and the students." (O. Hofmeister, 2009)

Everything has already been said - it is enough to simply browse through the opinions of not only the above-mentioned jurors over the last five years.

I only add: Students, have higher demands on your teachers. A new building will not solve it for you.

PS: Some of the best projects belonged, as always, to those students who actively participate in the functioning of SPA and in the organization of this award - unfortunately, they cannot be nominated...