The jury awarded Julia Kopecká the 2nd prize for her diploma thesis Nádraží v Pec pod Sněžkou prepared under the direction of Tomáš Hradečný, Vojtěch Rudorfer received the jury's honorable mention for Ny-Ålesund, a hangar for a research airship, designed by Mirko Baum and Vojtěch Hybler. Tomáš Pevný received a special award from the Cegra institute for the Fláje Waterworks project, which he prepared under the leadership of prof. Petr Hájek and Tomáš Rain, a special award of the Czech Centers for a diploma thesis devoted to the conversion of the Branické Iceworks complex, which he created under the guidance of prof. Václav Girsa.
The ceremony took place at the Center for Architecture and Urban Planning on 12 January, 2021 and was broadcast online ( you will find the record here). The aim of the competition show is to compare the level of quality of teaching at universities focused on teaching architecture in the Czech Republic. The submitted diploma theses, which were successfully defended by the graduates of universities and faculties providing architectural education last academic year, were evaluated by an expert jury headed by the chairwoman Monika Mitášová. Other jurors were architects Tomáš Jiránek and Alena Mičeková, architecture historian and theorist Benjamin Fragner and publicist Petr Volf.
The overall winner of the competition was Jakub Wiesner from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM). The second prize went to Julie Kopecká from the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague for her work at the Railway Station in Pec pod Sněžkou. According to the jury, this is an example of a possible typology of railway stations in connection with a sensitive landscape solution. The jurors emphasized that it was a generous landscape design, not just the construction of transport infrastructure. They appreciated the sensitive involvement in the structure of the place and the convincing minimalist, yet dynamic, concept of the building itself, which extends the existing typology of railway stations. Veronika Chalupová from the Faculty of Horticulture at Mendel University in Brno received the third prize.
Honorable mentions were given by the jury to Blanca Štuříková from the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology and to Vojtěch Rudorfer from the Faculty of Architecture at CTU in Prague, who designed Ny-Ålesund, a hangar for a research airship with scientific and technical equipment. According to the jury, the work oscillates on the edge of structural sophistication and architectural design. The jurors appreciated the precise presentation of the structural system, including calculations and details. According to them, the project is characterized by perfectionism, which is not common at universities.
The jury also awarded five special prizes, two of them to Tomáš Pevný and Tomáš Rain, graduates of the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague. Tomáš Pevný received a special award from Cegra for the Fláje Waterworks. He designed a concrete dam, which turns into a columbarium and a ceremonial cemetery hall. According to the jury, it empathetically complements the concrete temple, is based on its actual and visual power, and uses it as a support for new development.
Tomáš Rain won a special award from the Czech Centers for the project Conversion of the Branické Iceworks. This is a gallery design for permanent display of Mucha´s Slavonic Epic within a multi-purpose cultural facility. According to the jury, this space is exactly what has been being searched for years, yet it has been under our noses all along. All you need is good will and the rare paintings will finally find a permanent home in Prague.
Other winners were Roman Balšán from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, Jan Urbášek from the Faculty of Architecture at Brno University of Technology or Jakub Vašek from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague won a special award by Zumtobel for his work Reconstruction and completion of film studios in the Upper Barracks complex in Klecany. Under the leadership of Tomáš Šenberger, he designed a solution that brings unexpected possibilities in the design of the exterior and interior. The jury emphasized that the thoughtfulness of the functions promises synergy and the viability of the necessary conversion.
The exhibition of diploma theses is a competition of the Czech Chamber of Architects intended for recent graduates of universities and faculties providing architectural education in an accredited master's degree program focused on architecture, urbanism or landscape architecture. All who have successfully defended their diploma thesis at a school with a recognized and related education in the relevant academic year can apply for it.
All works and evaluations awarded by the jury are available on the diplom.ky website.
