Open Statement for the Public Architectural Competition for the Design of SH BEČOV - EXEMPLARY REHABILITATION OF THE CASTLE, ADJACENT BUILDINGS, AND AREA, Ú.O.P. LOKET

Source
MCA atelier

Publisher
Tisková zpráva
11.05.2013 17:05

The announcement of a public architectural competition for the restoration of Bečov Castle was positively perceived by the public as a step forward in the approach to heritage conservation, opening up to collaboration on comprehensive creation and protection of a quality architectural environment, of which heritage care should be a part. At the same time, the outcome was intended to be the first assignment of a public contract of this type through a public architectural competition, as has long been common in neighboring developed countries.

Unfortunately, the development of the competition has resulted in the opposite outcome.
We achieved 1st place in the competition with a proposal that included, among other things, a new chapel of St. Maurus, which was highly praised by both experts and the public. However, the competitor A. T. Girsa, who placed 2nd, publicly stated that he refuses to accept the jury's decision and subsequently filed a number of objections against the competition, starting with questioning the architectural quality of the winning proposal and ending with formal objections, declaring his readiness to pursue the matter further with the Office for the Protection of Competition if his objections were not acknowledged. All this, knowing that the restoration of Bečov Castle is financed from grant sources, which could be lost in case of failure to use by the end of this year due to the canceled competition.

Based on A. T. Girsa's objections, the jury met again in a modified composition and, judging the already non-anonymous proposals, decided to exclude our proposal from the competition on the grounds of a formal deficiency - a numerical error in the attached cost estimate. However, the binding limit was not exceeded, the calculation contained reserves, and the final declaration of the proposal confirmed the target binding amount. A. T. Girsa's proposal also contained the same deficiency - a cost estimate error due to a missing item, but in his case, the jury accepted an "explanation," did not exclude the proposal, and newly awarded him victory in the competition.

We consider the course of the competition and the jury's conduct unacceptable for the following reasons:

Recognition of the formal objection of a numerical error in the cost estimate at the competition stage as a reason for exclusion from the competition

The purpose of the architectural competition is to find the highest quality architectural proposal. The determination of future acquisition costs is to be only a qualified preliminary estimate, which has only a basic informative nature and should serve to potentially highlight solutions that are evidently unrealistic. Its detail and thus possible deviation must correspond closely to the level of documentation, in this case, a study. According to the statement of ČKA, in this case, the objection should not have been taken into account. In the case of Bečov, the construction volume and costs for implementation and project work were predetermined. Moreover, the MCA proposal was evidently one of the most financially economical proposals in the competition, and it is no more expensive than A. T. Girsa's proposal.

Non-exclusion of A. T. Girsa

If the objection of the cost estimate error was accepted as a reason for exclusion from the competition, then all other proposals that contained a cost estimate error should also have been excluded, including A. T. Girsa's.

Fundamental violation of the condition of participation in the competition regarding the independence of the jury

Among the jury members was a direct subordinate of Ing. arch. Girsa in an employment relationship. This violation is particularly serious in the case of the second decision over the already non-anonymous proposals.

If we were to approach the matter as A. T. Girsa did, we would now officially submit the aforementioned objections to the competition, subsequently to the Office for the Protection of Competition, which would examine the case for some time (during which comprehensive restoration of the extraordinary monument at SH Bečov could not begin, and due to time constraints, the restoration funds would be jeopardized) and subsequently, given the serious nature of the objections, would most likely accept them and annul the competition.

However, we have decided not to submit objections against the competition, as we consider the Bečov Castle itself and the possibility of continuing its restoration to be the most important, which a stalemate situation from a potential cancellation of the architectural competition could block for a long time.

The result of the originally esteemed competition is now a precedent signal that a competition can be "won" in such a manner and also that the direction of heritage care towards finding objective quality in the architectural proposal for restoration remains questionable. A sad result for Bečov is that instead of a sensitive placement of the medieval reliquary with the remains of St. John the Baptist, St. Maurus, and other saints in the sacred environment of the new "chapel," there will instead be a construction of public toilets in its place - today's gap - at comparable costs to those of the chapel, and the reliquary will be installed in a manner that does not correspond to its spiritual significance in the "living room" of the Pluhovský houses. This led to a lack of respect for the internal content of the monument, both the reliquary and the site, and the public lost the opportunity to spiritually experience the encounter with the reliquary in a relevant space, as was the case in the past, instead of placing the reliquary in a form that does not match its sense, presenting it merely as an object of artistic or craft value.

Given the current course and decision-making process in the open and anonymous architectural competition, which we still consider the correct way to assign public contracts, including in the case of the restoration of immovable cultural heritage, allowing - among other things - access to new solutions and young architects, we address the professional institution with a proposal to address the matter and make the necessary decisions that will restore credibility to architectural competitions and support their organization on healthy professional foundations.

Miroslav Cikán and Pavla Melková, MCA atelier, in Prague on 09. 05. 2013

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