Revitalization of Masaryk Square in Mnichovo Hradiště - results

- 19 teams submitted their proposals for the architectural competition for the new concept of Masaryk Square
- the competition jury did not award 1st place, the proposal by Ing. arch. Josef Hlavatý and Ing. arch. Lenka Hlavatá took 2nd place, and shared 3rd place went to the proposals of Dipl. Ing. Till Rehwaldt and Ing. Eliška Vaňková, and the company Atelier architekti 111
- all competition proposals will be presented on May 26, 2016, at 5:30 PM at the Cinema in Mnichovo Hradiště, where there will also be a discussion with representatives of the awarded proposals

The architectural competition for the redesign of Masaryk Square in Mnichovo Hradiště could not complain about the lack of interest from architects. The expert jury has been dealing with a total of 19 competition proposals since March, of which seven advanced to the second round. The design by Ing. arch. Josef Hlavatý and Ing. arch. Lenka Hlavatá was selected as the most successful, which secured 2nd place, while the proposals by Dipl. Ing. Till Rehwaldt and Ing. Eliška Vaňková and the Atelier 111 architekti s.r.o., namely Bc. Veronika Indrová, Ing. arch. Barbora Weinzettlová, and Ing. arch. Jiří Weinzettl, shared 3rd place.
“The jury, composed of renowned architects and representatives of the city leadership, spent many hours discussing the proposals. Several very high-quality and professional proposals advanced to the second round, but all will still require modifications. We will particularly be looking for the ideal solutions for transportation and greenery. Since the jury did not find any of the proposals to be definitive, it decided not to award the first prize. One second prize and two third prizes were awarded,” commented the results the city architect MgA. Jakub Chuchlík, who formulated a very precise assignment for the competition based on public meetings with the city residents held at the end of last year, with the competition announced on January 5, 2016.
Regarding the highest-rated proposal by Ing. arch. Josef Hlavatý and Ing. arch. Lenka Hlavatá (2nd place), the jury particularly appreciated the enhancement of the square's recreational and representative functions, the mitigation of the road character of the southern part, the planting of trees on both sides of the town hall block, accessibility, comfortable cycling solutions, and the deviation of the regional communication, which will probably not be possible due to the recent reconstruction of Palackého Street. However, they recommended choosing a different material for paving than sandstone, addressing the empty space around the plague column, replacing the proposed pedestrian zone in the northern and eastern parts of the square with a residential zone, and designing the missing parking spaces along its perimeter.
From the proposal by Dipl. Ing. Till Rehwaldt and Ing. Eliška Vaňková (3rd place), the jury highlighted the distinct character of the individual parts of the square (the representative space in front of the town hall in the east, the recreational area in the relocated bus station in the north, the western part with the dominant plague column, and the southern part serving traffic). Conversely, they had reservations about the strong emphasis on lines, which prioritizes form over the actual needs of residents. They also criticized the three-row avenue in the northern part for its size, which would diminish the universal character of the square's area.
The proposal from Atelier architekti 111 (3rd place) earned praise for respecting the financial possibilities of the city and a sympathetic solution for barrier-free access, but it also faced criticism due to unconvincingly executed visualizations, a lack of trees, and the introduction of a strictly pedestrian zone in the northern and eastern parts as a proposal that secured 2nd place.
“At this moment, it is still unclear which proposal will be realized. Representatives of the city will only begin negotiations with the three awarded teams, and the selected proposal will still go through necessary changes based on the jury's comments,” added Mayor Ondřej Lochman.
The presentation of the results of the architectural competition and the exhibition of the competition proposals will take place on May 26, 2016, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at the Cinema in Mnichovo Hradiště with the participation of representatives of the three awarded proposals. They will present their proposals, and there will also be space for discussion and questions from the public. In the cinema foyer, all proposals submitted to the competition will be displayed until June 30.
The results were determined by the expert jury, which included besides city representatives architect Jitka Ressová from the Zlín studio Ellement, landscape architect Vladimír Sitta from the Australian studio Terragram, architect Markéta Zdebská from the Prague studio By architects, and Jakub Adamec from the Liberec studio Anuk architekti. The invited expert of the jury was transportation urbanist Tomáš Cach, experts on heritage preservation, and Pavel Král from the city's investment department, who assessed the proposals from the perspective of costs for implementation and maintenance.

More information about the competition can be found at www.mnhradiste.cz/namesti.