The Club for Old Prague appreciated the new villa in Hlubočepy

Prague - The award for new construction in a historic environment was today granted by the Club for Old Prague to a family house in Prague - Hlubočepy. Its authors are Barbora Rossiová, Jan Mrázek, and Josef Šanda. "It stands in a dramatically shaped landscape and is conceived as a landscape itself. In the Czech context, it draws untraditionally from the treasure trove of modern European regionalism," said jury member, architectural historian Rostislav Švácha, during the award presentation.
The Club has already awarded a new construction for the fourth time, which, according to its members, does not disrupt the historical environment, stands out for its valuable architecture, and is capable of cultivating its broader surroundings.
Although the Club for Old Prague, with its long history, primarily defends historical buildings and urban environments, its members assert that contemporary architecture certainly belongs in a historic context. "Architects of all centuries before us faced a similar problem. Architecture is an endless story that cannot be interrupted or even closed," they say.
According to the chairwoman of the Club for Old Prague, Kateřina Bečková, harmony is important when placing new buildings in historical locations. "It cannot be calculated but is purely in the creative invention of the author. It would be foolish to assume that imitation of the original architecture can be considered harmony. It's not about mimicry," she stated.
However, the new intervention must not mean a deliberate denial of the place and its character. New buildings can enhance or transform the existing environment. The Club for Old Prague believes that there are places whose transformation would, in today's view, be a loss. Through the competition, it aims to contribute to a dialogue between preservationists and modern architects. This dialogue has intensified, especially in recent months, due to changes in heritage care initiated by Minister of Culture Vítězslav Jandák.
Architects generally have - by the nature of their work - a more lenient approach to heritage protection. The Czech Chamber of Architects presented its own concept of heritage care, which raises questions, for instance, about whether there are too many heritage-protected objects in the Czech Republic. Most preservationists oppose this. They also criticized the new director of the National Heritage Institute, Tomáš Hájek, for having an advisory board dominated by architects and people connected with the Czech Chamber of Architects; Hájek later expanded the board to include experts in heritage conservation, its theory, or restoration.
In previous years, the Club for Old Prague awarded the prize among new constructions in historic environments to the Portheimka Center project - for the completion of the rectory in Smíchov, Prague 5, the completion of the castle in Prague - Komořany, and the Monastery of Our Lady with the Church of the Virgin Mary, which was created by converting a Baroque courtyard in Nový Dvůr near Dobrá Voda in the Karlovy Vary region.
This year, among the candidates, in addition to the winner, was a set of family houses on Kamenná Street in Brno by Roman Gale and Michal Palaščák, the completion of the Regional Library in Pardubice by Aleš Pappa, Magdalena Pappová, and Milan Vítem, and multifunctional buildings on Chlumová Street in Prague - Žižkov by Zdeněk Fránek.