In 25 years, dozens of churches have been built in the Czech Republic, with more planned

2nd prize in the competition for the church in Brno-Líšeň - Tomáš and Martina Kodetovi

Prague - The social changes after 1989 also brought a renewed opportunity to build sacred structures, which, except for a few exceptions, could not be constructed under the totalitarian regime. In the last 25 years, dozens of churches have been built in the Czech Republic, predominantly Roman Catholic. In contrast, the Evangelical Church has opened one newly built church after 1989, while the Brethren Church has built three. Two of them were built by architect Zdeněk Fránek, in Černošice and in Litomyšl. These are among the few churches that experts describe as quality contemporary buildings; most new churches lack quality.
The Czech Chamber of Architects also criticizes the fact that rarely does the design of a church, which is a prominent landmark in its environment, arise from an architectural competition. Many new churches have been built on the sites of buildings destroyed by totalitarian regimes, and these new constructions are rising relatively quickly and often lack distinctive decoration. In the past 20 years, more temples have been constructed in the country than in the whole century.
A sad record is the construction site of the church in Staré Město near Uherské Hradiště, which has been in the making for 12 years. From the planned Church of the Holy Spirit, a 43-meter-high tower rises to the sky; the project by Slovenian architect Ivo Goropevšek has already cost over 80 million, and locals, due to the mentioned towers, nickname it Temelín.
Most new Catholic churches have emerged in Moravia. Some of the new constructions reference traditional sacred architecture, while others have been conceived boldly by their creators, referencing similar buildings constructed in the free world in the 20th century. Only a few domestic buildings have garnered a greater response in terms of quality; besides the aforementioned Fránek’s buildings, there was also the Trappist monastery in Nový Dvůr.
The Trappists reconstructed a Baroque estate and supplemented it with a new building designed by British architect John Pawson. The minimalist structure has received several awards, including the Club for Old Prague Prize for a new building in a historic setting; critics described it as a monastery for the new millennium, comparing it to significant sacred buildings of the 20th century, including Le Corbusier's La Tourette and the works of Rudolf Schwarz.
Fránek's church in Litomyšl with alternating sloped shed roofs was nominated for the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award, just like the St. Anthony Chapel in Černá na Žďársku by architects Ladislav Kuba and Tomáš Pilař. The small wooden structure shaped like a ship evoked both enthusiasm and misunderstanding; the authors fared better with the Chapel of the Queen of the Holy Mary, which they built in Jestřebí near Brtnice in the 90s and which in its simple form references the traditions of Baroque chapels.
While traditionally churches were built in the center of towns, after 1989 they were more often constructed in the outskirts of cities. In one of the residential areas in Brno, in Lesná, another building could arise according to Zdeněk Fránek's project; he proposed it in the 90s and the foundations for the construction have already been laid. Later, the client decided on a competition, which in 2012 was declared irregular by the Chamber of Architects, and it has no information on its continuation. In the Moravian metropolis, the first post-revolutionary church was built in a residential area in the Brno diocese; in Žabovřesky, it was initiated by the Salesians of Don Bosco. They are now planning a church in another Brno residential area, Líšeň. In this case, the results of the architectural competition, which attracted 74 bidders, were announced in May. The jury awarded the second prize to Tomáš and Martina Kodetovi for an unfilled first place.
One of the few churches that have been built in the city center is the Church of St. Wenceslas in Břeclav. It was built by Ludvík Kolek, who is jokingly referred to by some as the Dienzenhofer of the 20th and 21st centuries, because he has probably built the most churches in the Czech Republic. He managed to build one even during the totalitarian regime - in Senetářov near Blansko. The building, influenced by Corbusier in the interior, is decorated with a Stations of the Cross by Mikuláš Medek. In the 90s, churches based on Kolk’s designs were built in Hustopeče in the Břeclav region, in Horní Libochová, in Slavkovice in the Vysočina region, and in Služovice in the Opava region.
At the beginning of the 21st century, he is somewhat replaced by Brno architect Marek Štěpán, known for his new Church of the Holy Spirit in Ostrava Zábřeh; several smaller buildings in Ostrava and its surroundings have been constructed based on his designs, and for the Church of the Holy Spirit in Šumná, he received the aforementioned Club for Old Prague Prize in 2010. In 2009, he created a complex for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI at the airport in Brno, which is also sacred architecture, albeit of temporary duration. A similar object for Benedict’s stop in Stará Boleslav was then created according to the design of the DaM studio.
In Prague, the first church built after 1989 was the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary in Strašnice, consecrated just 20 years ago, on June 17, 1994. The church was built according to the design of architect Jiří Synek, who later also reconstructed several sacred buildings, but among his first realizations is the motel Devět křížů on the D1 highway.

Ivo Goropevšek: Church of the Holy Spirit in Staré Město near Uherské Hradiště.