First place in the urban planning competition for the revitalization of the Černá louka area

Introduction
The term "culture" [the Latin term cultura comes from the verb colere, meaning to cultivate, educate, or refine] has many different meanings. The proposed project utilizes a wide range of meanings of this term. However, it does not include any guidelines regulating the spatial arrangement of its ambitious vision. It allows for all forms of culture, enabling the realization of both traditional and less formal "programs" and making spaces available for the spontaneous creation of combinations of various cultural activities.

Urban Context of the Location
The location is defined by three different elements of the environment – the old city center, the land reserved for the construction of the new Černá louka, and the Ostravice River [with the Slezskoostravský Castle in the background]. The project allows these elements to transcend their boundaries. It anticipates connections through pathways that will then serve both the old city center and Nová Karolína, linking it to the proposed location surrounded by a ring of new urban fabric while preserving the undeveloped core.

The banks of the Ostravice in the south of the location have a completely natural character. The project plans to expand its lush vegetation, allowing smaller individual construction objects to be inserted into it. This will ensure greater intimacy of the various parts of the riverbank and better connection with the Slezskoostravský Castle and the surrounding landscape.

Dlouhá and Muzejní Streets have been extended from the city center to the new location. This allows for the construction of a number of multifunctional buildings and the creation of an undeveloped space in front of the new exhibition hall.

Černá louka
The Černá louka location resembles a typical exhibition space – a dispersed group of buildings in an undeveloped area, creating fragments of paving and grassy surfaces. It lacks any connection with the city center or the river. If its current appearance is preserved, either through a variety of purpose-driven design of the individual buildings or through interconnected purposes, the location will remain unchanged and will continue to represent a dispersed group of buildings in greenery.

An alternative solution is to create a ring of old and new buildings around a cohesive undeveloped space. This space will also include the river itself. It is essential to bring the city to the river and to bring the river closer to the city. The city center will directly connect with the Ostravice, creating a new public space that allows for a wide range of activities.

The outer ring consists of a segmented surface that allows only limited use of vehicles and ensures free movement for pedestrians. This creates a rational logistical network appropriately connected to existing road communications. As a result, the Černá louka area retains a sense of openness that is not disturbed by the demands of road traffic. The same traditional paving materials used in the city center will be employed for the paving in the outer ring. The surfaces for cars and pedestrians will differ; where vehicle usage is allowed, the surface will be concrete, while the pedestrian paths will be loosely paved, allowing for green penetration.

Context of the City – Undeveloped Space
Ostrava already has many beautiful places. Publicly accessible areas, places for sports, historical sites, wooded or traditionally grassy areas, and large parks meet many basic needs of a city of similar size. This project creates a new type of undeveloped space – the so-called "cultural meadow." Its aim is not to compete with existing undeveloped spaces, but to provide a place for activities that are currently accumulating in city centers. In it, visual arts can be interconnected with family programs, music, dance, literature, architecture, ecology, faith, and social activities.

Intent
The investment intent emphasizes primarily the flexibility and diversity of space usage. It is planned to preserve many buildings located on the edge of the area by utilizing the gaps between them. An additional plan includes the construction of a hotel with a space intended to attract creative users of office space. Parking lots necessary for the area will be placed at its edge and beneath newly constructed buildings. The undeveloped space of the location will be diversified by a series of projectually non-specific, yet spatially distinct elements, including a flower garden, an artificial pond, sculptures, a glazed space [the glass façade of the city market], a bank covered with black sand, an amphitheater, an oval stage for outdoor performances, and a series of grassy mounds for occasional leisure time. This creates a space for more formal cultural activities [opera, exhibitions, education, etc.] as well as more informal ones [crafts, breakdancing, picnics, etc.]

As for the areas planted with trees, only minimal interventions are planned that will not disrupt the feeling of natural tranquility. The Waldorf school is situated between the nearby residential part of Nová Karolína and the Ostravice River, allowing students to interact with nature. The area at the confluence of the two rivers will be designated for a leisure and recreation center that will rent equipment for exploring the surrounding nature. The right bank of the Ostravice is, due to its proximity to cultural activity locations and relative isolation, an ideal spot for the construction of residences for artists.

The built space of the construction objects is relatively simple. Their individual expression is not extravagant, which focuses attention on the cultural activities themselves, not on the architecture. This is a certain connection between the undeveloped space and the buildings. Openness and accessibility of the ground floors of the buildings play a key role, allowing public space to penetrate their interiors.

The buildings do not have to be located precisely at the mentioned spots, but it is important that they form a connecting link with the city center and become the supporting structure of the "cultural meadow." This also allows for simple phasing. Because the necessary funds are available, the construction or reconstruction of individual objects can be initiated as a whole.

Hills
In order to bring the river closer to the city, changes have been made to the terrain. These include the construction of a solid embankment sloping down to the riverbank while preserving the trees on several grassy hills. The segmentation has opened a view of the river from the edge of the location. The hills that were removed have been replaced with black paving creating a smooth public space. The name of the location and the history of the material used inspired this decision.

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Jury Evaluation: The basic idea of the proposal is simple and clear: to transform Černá louka into a cultural meadow - into a new type of public space with a new socio-cultural identity, where various activities will take place, which will be bordered by a "ring" (not only) of cultural buildings. The ring creates a transitional zone between the historical core and the landscape character, represented by the meadow and the river. The design integrates individual buildings into the area of the former exhibition grounds without fully blocking it. On the contrary, it dedicates a generous, open, undeveloped space to its core. This space will serve as the central focal point, the hub of cultural activities in Ostrava, not just in 2015.
Individual buildings are designed as loosely dependent solitaires, which are unified by bordering a promenade and potentially extending their activities from the interior to the exterior of the meadow. The design successfully integrates existing buildings (Pavilion A, Pavilion G, the former market building) with new constructions. A special place is found for a concert hall, which partially protrudes from the ring and is more connected to the city, neighboring both theaters closely.
The conceptual core of the project represents a reduced but significantly transformed meadow, newly sloping towards the Ostravice River and inviting intensive use. As one of the few, the authors work with the third dimension of the meadow. Subtle terrain profiling allows them to articulate and hierarchize the space. Although the design partially anticipates the future appearance of the individual buildings, the proposed concept will function regardless of how these buildings will look. Their specific appearance will emerge from separate architectural competitions.
The greatest quality of the proposal is considered to be the finding of an appropriate degree of clearly defined character, while still maintaining sufficient openness for future development and phasing. Through gradual completion, the concept will only be strengthened, which aligns with the definition of a successful master plan.