Ještěd in the Cage 04 - Award Ceremony

Ještěd in a Cage or 'JFK – the Iconic Fatulu Award' is a competition for the best student project at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in Liberec. Its fourth edition took place on Wednesday, June 16, 2010, traditionally in the main studio of FUA, where dozens of students and guests came to hear the jury's verdict that evening. The popularity of the event is evidenced by the fact that although no one knew until the last moment which projects the jury would select that day, four out of five nominees – including the winner of the JFK – were present in the studio, and the awards could go straight to the right hands.
The jury evaluated 134 projects, including four suspended installations. The predominantly Prague-based jury chose Tomáš Pilar from Brno as its head after Markéta Cajthamlová declined a gentleman's offer for the presidency. Although currently none of the jurors are actively working in Liberec, most of them have some previous connection to the city. Zdeněk Lukeš was the dean here from 2000-03, Petr Janda proposed the Memorial to the Victims of Communism here in 2006, Markéta Cajthamlová taught here in 1996 at the Summer School of Architecture, Tomáš Pilar from the studio Kuba-Pilar is initiating a residential project here, Ondřej Císler gave an engaging lecture here last year, and Pavlu Nasadil liked it in Liberec so much that he spent the following weekend at the 4th Gathering in the Jizera Mountains.
The announcement was monopolistically – but deservedly – dominated by the studio of Zdeňka Fránka with assistant Radek Suchánek, whose students won four out of five awards, including the highest one. It showed that the same attention given to the development and direction of a project during the semester should be paid to the choice and proper definition of the assignment even before starting the actual work. This year, the jurors found little understanding in the recycling of various competitions, services to municipal authorities, or transferring commercial projects from architectural offices to the academic ground. By having three projects from the Museum of Totality among the five awardees, the jurors expressed how important it is to familiarize oneself with and work with absorbed historical experiences. Thanks to this assignment, students, most of whom were born after the Velvet Revolution in a free society, were able to familiarize themselves with a dark place in our history, talk to former political prisoners, experience strong emotions, and grow. I believe that similar assignments based on strong personal experiences will increase in the coming semesters.
The final verdict of the jury was as follows. Only one of the three nominated projects was not created at Zdeněk Fránek's studio, and that was the project by the duo of students Tereza Galuszková and Zuzana Koňasová for the revitalization of the Black Meadow area in Ostrava, which was developed in the studio of Jan Hendrych, and for which the jury praised particularly the courage and generosity in addressing such an extensive task. The remaining two nominations were awarded to students from Fránek's studio: Filip Kotlář for the project of a new brewery in Olomouc and Monika Jasioková for the Museum of Totality in Uherské Hradiště. The highest award was again won by students from the studio of Doc. Fránek. The special prize went to Ondřej Michálek for the memorial to totality in Uherské Hradiště, where the jury was captivated by the sculptural concept of a concrete maze encapsulating depressive historical events. The absolute winner of JFK 04 became Anna Podroužková with the project of converting a prison in Uherské Hradiště into a Museum of Totality, which the jury praised for its stalker-like atmosphere and non-obvious symbolism.

Some of the unfulfilled expectations of the jurors will soon be met by the first year of the student exhibition Ještěd z klece, where "full-fat" bachelor's and diploma projects will be presented. The inaugural JZK this March showcased the diploma works of Eliška Kosová, Pavlína Harazimová, and Jiří Žid.