Superstudio 2018 - winning and awarded projects

1st place: Train Housing
Cehula Marek, Jurčo Ondrej, Longauerová Anna (FU TUKE, Košice)
Most European as well as overseas cities are marked by the developmental trends of the present. The city center, as a result of the influx of vast capital, becomes increasingly elitist. Residential projects are created that are accessible to a minimal number of residents. The city is segregating. Economically homogeneous neighborhoods support the caste system in society, and places where interaction among various professions, classes, and groups could occur are disappearing.
Based on historical development in centers, there are areas that are not particularly attractive. The railway line, once a matter of the periphery, has expanded with urban development into the broader center of all large cities today. The value of the proposed developments, nevertheless, would not reach the threshold of broad accessibility in such areas. At the same time, the current policy of railway companies in developed countries is geared towards promoting high-speed trains at the expense of night trains. A large number of unused sleeping cars appear, standing abandoned on railway tracks.
Existing, but often abandoned, railway infrastructure in the context of the city—and unused products from carriages—have understandably become the subject of reflection on available housing in the big city. With minimal entry costs, this scheme can provide shelter to both people in financial distress and those interested in an alternative way of life.
The process of occupying the railway cars is largely left to the will and decisions of the residents themselves. An interested party can purchase one or more compartments in cars that are parked on unused (blind) railway tracks in the central areas of large cities for a very reasonable amount. Here, a community of neighbors is subsequently built, who for a certain time realize their housing autonomously (or with the help of others). A sense of belonging and social interaction are reinforced by a scheme in which private ownership is reduced to the space of a bedroom. Sharing sanitary facilities, laundry, kitchen, or living room, which operate within separate cars, is both a catalyst for eliminating growing individualism and a logical solution from a technical standpoint (connection to networks in the place of longer stays).
A small community is formed, a kind of mobile apartment block, a carrier of culture and activities of its "crew." The mobility of the project, as one of its main specifics, creates a potential for socio-cultural enrichment of both the city and the residents of the train. Through various functions arranged in its setup (library, lecture room, kitchen, and dining room), which are managed by the users, during the "anchoring" time, the platform becomes a fully-fledged public space with many qualities. Whether it involves workshops, restaurant services, exhibitions, or lectures on community activities, an interaction of various cultures, generations, and professions occurs, which is so rare for contemporary cities.

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2nd place: Storage Room
Vojtěch Marek, Petra Šebová (FA VUT, Brno)
We decided to approach the concept of community living in a somewhat subversive way. We question the stereotypical definition of social activism as a necessary trait for a meaningful role in a healthy and humane community. “A community with involved and happy people” is not a welcoming vision for everyone. However, that does not mean that the values that the "community" brings to the city should remain distant and inaccessible for a certain group (who naturally refuse to penetrate into the “community”). Exclusive, despite its inclusive nature. We focused on individuals who have an introverted hobby—collecting. It is not the ultimate stigma, but sometimes these people are perceived as a rarity or oddity. They are the core residents of our proposal.
Visits to collector fairs, flea markets, and items from grandma are hobbies that gain attraction precisely because of their popularity among the “community of involved and happy people.” A place emerges whose residents do not necessarily have to be “happy and involved,” yet it becomes an attractive location for them as well.
The economic model is based on a slightly fanatical homeowner (similar to the operators of many private galleries) who realizes the proposal. Renting apartments is offered at favorable conditions to people owning collections, while a certain percentage (depending on the period) is occupied by people without a collection at standard rent conditions. The owner can freely dispose of the items in the collection (loaning them for short-term exhibitions) but they remain the property of the tenants. If the tenant has no heir, the collection is auctioned after their death. The underground level serves as an “external repository” for various collectors from the area. Renting garage or basement space is common for collectors, relieving crowded apartments. The collection is secured and insured. The ground floor is regularly a site for a fair (collectors’ fair, antiques, ordinary flea market, books...), where a small portion of the profit is generated by renting out tables. The greatest value lies in creating the character of an environment that is an authentic home for the residents and a place for activities of people from the wider area.
Visitors follow the line of the staircase, leading them past the display cases of the collections. They perceive one position of the project, defined by what the collector offers for display. The floors have different layouts, which makes reading and orientation difficult during a one-time visit (different sizes and numbers of apartments, three types of floors regularly layered upon one another). The object is an analogy of collecting: wandering, finding.
The resident probably moves directly up the vertical of the elevator. Behind the apartment door exists another position of the project, the panel house classic of a passionate collector (perhaps an introverted hater), supported in certain floors by the characteristic “storage room layout.” The boundary is set by the display/window, and does not exceed the limits of ordinary “entrance exhibitionism.” Penetrating into the deeper layers of the house, down to the core, is possible by building a relationship with its resident.

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3rd place: Never Alone Again
Anna Hrušová, Michaela Říhová (FUA TUL, Liberec)

We find ourselves in the center of Liberec. What’s here? Empty streets, vacant storefronts. People are sad and hidden. All life has been swallowed by shopping centers, of which there are no small number. Children wander, unsure of what to do with their time, and so they loiter under the roofs of climate-controlled palaces of the "modern world." Old people go out just to catch a few morning discounts, and then they disappear, unheard of, unmissed, while no one cares about them. And the adults? They go from work straight to the TV. Dull entertainment. A tired life full of wrinkles. What can we do about it? We need to let the blood flow! Attach like leeches. Siphon the bad, leaving only what’s important. And what is that? Happiness. How to achieve it? Who knows. But one can bring it upon oneself, everyone can do it, with a smile from ear to ear. Just remember how much joy it brought you when a random passerby smiled at you! So much joy. And there’s no other way, but to return the smile. And to smile at others. It’s like a virus, it passes from person to person, spreading at an uncontrollable speed.
But how to trigger it? Every city wants to be happy, doesn’t it? Happy people make a happy city. Therefore this is the initiative of the city. It wants to be happy, and therefore it makes its residents happy.
Where to attach? Let’s focus on what we already have. We are in the center, there are houses, yards, inner blocks. But what’s happening here? Nothing. And so we’ve set the leech here. It’s simple. We want to attract young people who after school don’t know where to go, can’t stay at their parents' anymore, and would appreciate a space where they can realize themselves. A workshop, sewing, creative, educational, a meeting place, a clubroom. Young people are full of ideas and enthusiasm, that must come out! Infect others, and make the city happier. But we must not forget the older and the oldest and create new projects for them. A radio show "Wrinkles of a Love" moderated by seniors is a great opportunity to give them space to listen!
The leech is set to the existing stairway space of the inner block, ideally of an urban house. Why? Because why spend on building vertical communication? Moreover, we need to densify. To increase the likelihood of meeting someone in the hallway, talking, and that there’s a place where everyone can gather in a pleasant atmosphere. Such space is on the ground floor. It’s a workshop, a radio station, a teaching room. An inclusive project of the city itself so that there is a place to share joy and experiences. Above it, each floor leads to an apartment, minimal housing, just right for a young person who cannot afford to buy their own overpriced apartment and wants to get on their own feet. The city thus offers them start-up housing for a few years with the option of shared space on the ground floor, where a new community, neighborly relationships of the whole house, inner block, street can develop.
The leech gradually attaches to wherever it can. People who come here will get what they crave at a minimal price. They have a reason to smile. And so they will infect more and more and more and more... Until there is no one left with a scowl on their face.
Socioeconomic models
The city must be interested in regulating the city center. Otherwise, there will always be emptying and the departure of residents to the periphery, which is more affordable for them. To ensure apartments in the center of the city are accessible to as wide a spectrum of residents as possible, the city cannot allow private owners to systematically impoverish the residents of the house, whom they often cannot even care for as owners. It then happens that only ghosts of their original inhabitants live in the city centers, the house deteriorates until its value—moral and physical—drops to a minimum. The house is then usually bought by the city for a ridiculous price, resulting in empty houses without life and minimal chances of rescue, or it must be demolished, and from the polished tooth of the proud city, only a sick gum remains.
How to achieve affordable housing in the center of Liberec?
We present several models. The owner of the existing house can be the city or a private owner. The goal is to build affordable housing in the center for the minimum cost or affordable rental spaces.
If the city is the owner, then the entire process is the simplest:
- The city attaches a few housing units for social housing or starter apartments to the existing house at minimal costs. By leading the project itself, it can regulate the rent price and thus prevent unreasonable price increases.
- The city will enter into an agreement with a group of people (“baugruppe”), which at its own expense (reduced by the construction of vertical communications) will create housing or a mix of housing and working spaces according to its needs. The city thus helps to densify the center and limits construction on the periphery.
- The city can add a few rentable office units to the existing house at minimal costs.
If a private individual is the owner, a collaboration can arise between him and the city:
- For the construction/expansion of a house in the center, they can obtain financing from the city to support the development of the city center and its revitalization. The result is social housing or starter apartments, where the city still has a say in the determination of rents.
- The private owner enters into an agreement with a group of people (“baugruppe”), which will create housing or a mix of housing and working spaces at their own cost (reduced by the construction of vertical communications).
- For the construction/expansion of a house in the center, they can obtain financing from the city to increase the competitiveness of start-up or small entrepreneurs. The result is small-scale office spaces/workshops at prices that the city can regulate.
For all scenarios, it applies that:
- They serve as preventive measures against deterioration and emptying of the house
- The apartments in the existing house become more attractive to additional target groups (e.g. young families with children), if an elevator is added within the investment. The result is greater diversity.
- They provide a social space directly connected to the inner block area, thereby helping to develop interpersonal relationships, and thus to increase the quality of life in the city center.

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Honorable Mention: Project Crossroad
Ema Krakovská, Tatiana Šebová, Richard Múdry (FA + FSv ČVUT, Prague)

In developing the concept, we based our search for an answer to the question of what architectural value is most important to us. We perceive the strength of architecture in its ability to stimulate social interactions and thereby increase the level of social capital in society. This phenomenon is immensely important today, as our mutual trust is challenged by problems such as the refugee crisis. Therefore, we feel that as architects we have an obligation to focus on creating a cohesive society, thus stopping feelings of alienation and loneliness. As the current winner of the Pritzker Prize, Balkrishna Doshi, reminds us: “The main role of an architect is to serve society.”
As a criterion for the success of the project, we set the integration of marginalized communities into society and sustainable mutual coexistence.
The investor and interim owner of the building is the non-profit organization UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency), funded by European integration funds and personal charity. They aim to build a low-cost multifunctional facility in the city center that would serve as an integration center for marginalized communities in society. This center thus gives them a chance to start a new life in a foreign country.
The placement of the Project Crossroad in the city center addresses a current problem that is as follows: We placed refugees in camps outside the cities and considered the problem solved. In reality, we merely pushed it to the periphery of the city and the public interest. This halted the integration process.
Permanent residents of the facility are provided cheaper housing in exchange for time spent assisting refugees: help with language education, handling official matters, and introducing local culture. Thus, our target group consists of all people who appreciate the idea of collaboration, regardless of age, gender, or social status. We believe that what residents may initially perceive as an obligation can, through social interactions (organizing music and film events, communal dinners, sports, mutual assistance, etc.), turn into genuine friendship. This means that both parties benefit from communal living.
The aim of the design was to create affordable housing for a large number of people while maximizing land use. The main principle of the building is the flexibility of the layout of individual modules. These reflect the needs of residents—whether to expand or reduce the number of rooms. Affordability is ensured through the use of repetitive prefabricated parts and the simplicity of the load-bearing skeleton. We believe this concept has great potential for repeated implementation in other locations due to its variability and spatial adaptability.
The building is located on a 24x24 meter parcel that is completely built up, while public and shared spaces are created in a vertical plane. The space is divided in both directions by a regular grid into smaller squares measuring 4x4 meters. The object is situated between two already standing buildings, filling an unused "gap" in the structure. Thanks to this, it attempts to fully utilize the free area in the already densely built city center. Communication between floors is provided via an external staircase attached to the front façade of the building.

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Honorable Mention: Housing at the Edge
Alexander Storek, Jakub Wiesner (UMPRUM, Prague)
The main support for the implementation of the project is the "permanent component" of residents, a group of people in the style of "baugruppe"—but we seek to update the limited scope of “baugruppe” through greater connection with the city, and we want to support the life of the project over time by introducing part of the housing that has variable residents (startups / social housing). This "variable component” is also a motivation for involvement and support from the city. Another motivation for the city is the benefits arising from the overall structure and program of the project.
It is important that the "permanent component" of residents creates a sense of community, a relationship with the place, and stability. The "variable component," in contrast, brings revitalization, updates, and fresh potential over time.
Various types of spaces and functions are embedded within the structure, forming an interlinked framework:
On the ground floor is a free bounded space that can serve for various events—happenings, markets, exhibitions, concerts. Another element is the insertion of a complementary function that is, for example, lacking in the area—in our case, a kindergarten (in relation to the adjacent residential development and elementary school). This function serves the residents of the house, can provide jobs for people from social housing, and is an asset for the city.
Within itself, the project also deals with the topic of "immaterial labor" (a contemporary phenomenon of immaterial production that makes up a significant part of today's economy and relates to precariousness, working in one's own apartment, etc.), the consequence of which is the loss of intimacy of the space, which was originally supposed to be the most personal (namely, one's own apartment)—we strive for a return of intimacy through a common workspace in the building, separate from housing yet sufficiently universal and close for the needs of contemporary forms of work.
An important part of the house are the rooftop gardens, which serve for cultivation by the residents of the house but can also be a place for work for people from social housing, or a place for education and play for children. In an urban context, they are beneficial for the city by capturing rainwater on site, reusing it (not taxing the sewerage system and supporting the local microclimate)... growing vegetables and fruits, beekeeping...
The project is financed from the own (or possibly collective) resources of the "permanent component" of residents—homeowners (in the style of a baugruppe). The city also participates in the project—by providing, or rather "enabling" the use of the given land, investing in social housing (the variable component), and investing in public function. Active support from the city in the administrative processes related to the preparation and implementation of the project is also very valuable. Besides the previously described values generated by the structure of the project, the city will also gain the opportunity to participate in shaping the resident composition, etc.
Another investor could then be a private company/institution that, by participating in a social project in the city center, gains positive "advertisement" and potentially the possibility of direct profit by claiming commercial space in the building.
A location in the city center generally means exclusivity and a high price when it comes to a fully-fledged construction plot. Therefore, we are looking for underutilized, residual spaces in the structure of the city where it would not normally be possible to build, or where doing so would not be worthwhile for large developers/investors for various reasons.
The location must be somewhat deformed, not too large—it corresponds in scale to small/medium investors and is not suitable for the large ones.
A gap in the urban structure / outside pricing and development / unused potential. Through a specific location in the center of Prague, we illustrate a generally applicable principle (case study).

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