Winning project of the 15th Venice Biennale of Architecture 2016

On January 26, 2016, an international jury met to select the exhibition project and subsequently realize the exhibition for the 15th International Architecture Biennale in Venice 2016, which will take place from May 28 to November 27, 2016 (opening on May 26 and 27, 2016) in the pavilion of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

The nine-member jury worked in the following composition:
Seven voting members in alphabetical order: Peter Čanecký (VŠMU); Irakli Eristavi (architectural studio zerozero); Adam Gebrian (independent critic, Prague, chair of the jury), Alexandra Homoľová (SNG); Zuzana Komárová (Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic); Boris Meluš (independent graphic designer); Alexandra Kusá (SNG).
Two non-voting jury members: Monika Mitášová (theorist of architecture, responsible for the professional preparation of the selection process) and project coordinator Monika Palčová (SNG).
A total of 24 projects were submitted to the competition, all of which were evaluated. In the morning hours, the jury studied the project documentation, discussed, and evaluated them. Three submitted projects advanced to the second round:

1. Project No. 8 by authors Michal Janák, Martin Jančok (Plural), Ľubica Segečová, and Bohdan Smieška titled Sokel.

2. Project No. 15 by authors Michal Sulo, Miriam Lišková (SLLA Architects), Raúl Alonso Estébanes, and Katarína Smatanová titled Mobilising Response / Podňjeťiť odpoveďe.

3. Project No. 23 by authors Benjamín Brádňanský, Peter Hájek, Víto Haladu, Ján Studený, and Marián Zervan (VŠVU in Bratislava and Trnava University in Trnava) titled Concern for Architecture – based on the example of one building: the site of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava.

Representatives of the three advancing projects discussed the submitted projects with the jury in the afternoon during the second round. After a final internal discussion, the jury selected project No. 23 Concern for Architecture – based on the example of one building: the site of the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava with a vote of 6 in favor, and one jury member abstained from voting.

Jury's statement on the winning project:
“The authors' team chosen by the jury to represent Slovakia at this year's architecture biennale decided to present the story of one building, the Slovak National Gallery.
In our opinion, this is one of the few buildings from the recent past in Slovakia that has the potential to attract a wide international audience. It is not just about presenting the building in a large 1:8 scale model, but about presenting the entire process: from considerations about the creation of such a building, through its preparation, various phases of the project, realization, usage, through subsequent decay, discussions about closure and possible demolition, to the competition proposals of various Slovak architects for reconstruction. The struggle for this building is at the intersection of many front lines, both architectural and non-architectural.
During the six months of the Venice Biennale, tens of thousands of serious architecture enthusiasts (architects, architecture students, historians, theorists, journalists, academics, architecture fans, those interested in the environment we live in) will visit. They will all be able, thanks to a clear presentation, to learn that such an extraordinary building with important content exists in Bratislava and that they may visit it in the future. They will also learn about the state of architectural thinking about galleries in Slovakia. The jury recommends considering an online broadcast from a webcam that will broadcast the ongoing reconstruction works in the pavilion during the biennale.
This exhibition also has the chance to convey hope for other buildings with relatively similar fates in the Czech Republic, Moravia, and Slovakia and help change the prevailing public opinions about several of them. Many excellent buildings with significant cultural and social content that were created in Czechoslovakia before 1989 are still often criticized, ridiculed, or even hated, usually solely and only because of the situation (era, ideology, political system) under which these buildings were created. We consider this a problem (a loss and a mistake) that needs to be widely discussed publicly, and the exhibition at the Venice Biennale will provide an excellent six-month platform for a whole range of such discussions and reflections.”

All projects are published on the SNG website in the form in which they were submitted to the competition.