In the competition for the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, there were a total of 92 proposals

Plzeň - A total of 92 proposals have been submitted by architects for the new building of the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň. The prestigious commission for the design of the object, which will be located in an attractive spot U Zvonu near the central square, has attracted renowned architects from across the country and likely even from abroad. A special jury has now convened to review the proposals and will select a winner after several days of deliberation. Vlasta Frouzová, head of the culture department of the Plzeň Region, told ČTK.
    "The proposals are diverse, many of them are interesting and represent something special, something different for Plzeň. However, there are also proposals for classic buildings with straight shapes. Even the greatest idealists did not expect such interest," she stated.
    The committee will select a winner from the 89 registered entries, as three applications were submitted after the deadline. The proposals, which are evaluated anonymously, are being assessed today for the first time by recognized experts among Czech architects as well as representatives from the region and Plzeň City Hall. The chairman of the jury is the prominent architect and urban planner Martin Rajniš, known primarily as the co-author of the new Post Office in Sněžka. Along with him, experts and architects Jiří Kotalík, Ludvík Grym, Petr Kratochvíl, Irena Fialová, and others are deciding on the new form of the gallery.
    The jury's session will last several days. The committee will likely first select the best proposals for buildings with a circular layout, followed by those of classic structures, and then those with unusual shapes. They will examine in detail whether the architects have also worked on the interior space as per the criteria laid out. The winner of the competition will receive one million crowns. The gallery, which is expected to cost around half a billion crowns to construct, should be completed by 2014.
    According to Roman Musil, director of the West Bohemian Gallery, the construction of the new gallery is an absolutely unique endeavor. Art galleries often reside in old monasteries or baroque palaces. "Building a new museum of art for a collection-based institution - this has truly never happened in modern Czech history, neither during the former Czechoslovakia nor in the Czech lands during the Austro-Hungarian period," he said. The closest was the construction of the Rudolfinum in 1885 and the Modern Gallery of the Kingdom of Bohemia from 1902, he noted.
    Discussions about building a new gallery in Plzeň have been ongoing practically since the establishment of the West Bohemian Gallery in 1954. However, efforts have never met with success. It wasn't until the establishment of the regional governments that the previous leadership began to negotiate the construction. The gallery, which is planned to be up to 21 meters high, will offer an exhibition hall for the long-term presentation of its collections mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries, a hall for temporary exhibitions, spaces for new deposits, and perhaps even a café.