Olomouc will appeal against the preliminary ban on UrbanStar lamps

HŠH Architekti, Modifications of the Upper Square in Olomouc, competition 1995, implementation 1998 - 2001, photo by Ester Havlová

Olomouc - The Olomouc city hall will appeal against the preliminary measure that the regional court prohibited the installation of new Philips UrbanStar lamps in the Upper Square until the dispute is resolved. Mayor Martin Major (ODS) told reporters today. The application for a preliminary measure was submitted by Prague architect Jan Šépka, co-author of the reconstruction of the Upper Square. According to him, the installation of Philips UrbanStar lights would violate copyright relating to the renovation of the city center.
The city hall wanted to replace the lamps in the Upper Square as early as summer, but due to the preliminary measure, it must wait for the resolution of the dispute regarding the lighting design of the city center. Therefore, the city commissioned a legal analysis, which states that the decision made by the judge regarding the preliminary measure contains several serious shortcomings. Major claims that the proposal for the preliminary measure was not presented at all to the city, which is the defendant, and that the decision lacks justification. According to the mayor, such a procedure is only permissible in cases where there is a real expectation that both parties to the dispute agree with the preliminary decision, which is not the case here.
"The whole matter is not about any personal disputes or exhibitions, but primarily about the effort to finalize the renovation of the Upper Square after many years and to provide the people of Olomouc with lighting of both technical and aesthetic quality. Therefore, I am surprised that the court is proceeding with such shortcomings in such a serious case and that it has not shown any interest in our opinion on the matter," said Major.
The debate on how best to illuminate the Upper Square has been ongoing in Olomouc for several months. After the completion of the Upper Square reconstruction in 2001, it was found that the then-installed Thorn lamps provide insufficient light. The fixtures are now significantly worn out. Therefore, the city proposed in the spring to place Philips UrbanStar lamps in the center this year, which have been illuminating the neighboring Lower Square since last year. However, this is not liked by preservationists or the authors of the Upper Square reconstruction, who originally advocated for lamps proposed in the city center repair project. Instead, Thorn poles were ultimately acquired, which the authors of the Upper Square reconstruction agreed to.
The installation of Philips UrbanStar lamps, which architect Šépka disagrees with, would, according to his lawyers, be an infringement of the copyright of the Upper Square reconstruction. Therefore, the co-author of the Olomouc city center renovation can seek a court ban on the replacement of lamps or financial compensation. According to Šépka, the originally proposed lamps are half the price of the Philips fixtures, have twice the luminous flux, and their maintenance is not complicated. The architect's lawyers pointed out that there is no need to install Philips lamps in the Upper Square, as it would be sufficient to repair the Thorn fixtures.