Festival Landscape points to the situation and possible transformations of Prague's train stations

Prague - This year, the Landscape festival focuses on the transformations of four transport hubs in Prague. It addresses the interconnections of architecture, landscape, public space, and art. From today until October 2, it will offer dozens of artistic and architectural interventions and works by well-known creators as well as students at four Prague sites undergoing transformation. The transformed locations are the Žižkov Freight Station, Palmovka, the area around Florence, and Smíchov Railway Station.

The program of this year's festival, subtitled Prague Stations Under/Unused, was presented to journalists today by the organizers. For four months, the mentioned locations will be enlivened by works from artists such as Dominik Lang, Čestmír Suška, Miloš Šejn, Roman Franta, Lenka Klodová, Matěj Frank, Tim, Epos 257, Benedikt Tolar, and studios like Kamil Mrva architects, Prodesi/Domesi, and Archwerk. The program can be found at www.landscape-festival.cz.

"Individual works and interventions not only enliven public space but also bring interactive elements to some locations and often highlight current themes of urban life, with ecology being the dominant theme this year," said Dan Merta, director of the organizing Jaroslav Fragner Gallery. He emphasizes that an important aspect when considering the transformations of public space in the city is always the notion of transportation.

For this reason, the organizers have selected four locations this year that are undergoing complete urban and architectural transformation, each in a different city district and at a different stage of metamorphosis. All are experiencing vibrant development and activist activity, but according to the organizers, they mainly await whether they will exemplify quality urban development in the metropolis.

"I welcome the fact that the debate about the quality of public space will once again take place in Prague 3 and that the development of the Žižkov Freight Station and the broader Florence area, which offers a connection between the center and lower Žižkov, will be communicated," said Deputy Mayor of Prague 3 Pavel Dobeš.

Around the former Žižkov freight station, whose center is a protected historical building, a neighborhood for about 20,000 residents is to be created over the next decade. Currently, in unused buildings, artist Petr Písařík has his studio, whose work will be showcased to visitors of the Landscape festival, along with the interventions by Kurt Gebauer and Roman Franta. Gebauer contributed to the festival's infrastructure with the concept of WC CZ, an artistically conceived enclosure around the mobile toilets, while Franta built a wooden cabin by the water, inside of which is a sign that reads "It's better outside."

The most complicated transport hub in Prague, Florenc Station, is also set to undergo transformation. Nearby, in Příběnická Street within a building known as Krenovka, a center managed by Unijazz and Tanec Praha is being established, with the idea of connecting lower Žižkov with Karlín and Prague 1. According to the festival organizers, the intersection at Palmovka is an urban jungle waiting for its urban development. Sculptor Čestmír Suška pays tribute to the former local resident Bohumil Hrabal with his work, and in the area, one can also see works by Dominik Lang and Aleš Hnízdil. At Smíchov Railway Station, works are being offered by Kamil Mrva Architects, who built the Small Observation Tower, along with Petra Vlachynská and Miloš Šejn.