In the submission of the winning design, Nová Florenc should connect the diverse urban worlds of the surrounding parts of Prague - Nové Město, Karlín and Žižkov. "Instead of one large square, the system of public spaces in the design is conceived as a sequence of diverse places, which together form a space connecting the surrounding neighborhoods. The public spaces at the nodal points then enrich the permeable area with important living spaces, ”describe the authors of the winning concept. Due to the number of planned park areas, the consortium also includes the domestic landscape studio Terra Florida.
"The winning design won us over for its urban solution with a reasonable scale and the design of the connection between Těšnov and Žižkov with a new public space at the foot of Žižkov. In addition, it addresses the possibility of a future relocation of the main road in the Těšnov area, which gives the opportunity to create a new city park, "commented the deputy mayor of Prague Petr Hlaváček.
Both Prague studios are not new to competitions for a new look for important transformation areas. Five years ago, UNIT architects won an international urban planning competition for a new railway station in Brno. Atelier 69 is involved in a large development project in Smíchov City and has also determined the appearance of the future transport terminal at Smíchov Railway Station. It is often signed under housing project proposals.
The competition's jury included top foreign architects such as Winy Maas, founder of the MVRDV studio, and Dutch urban planner Kees Christiaanse, whose KCAP office helped create the modern HafenCity district in Hamburg. A total of 57 teams from Europe, Asia and North America entered the competition.
The hitherto neglected brownfield and at the same time an important transport hub in the Florence locality has been the subject of several studies in the past, but not all landowners ever agreed on the result. The main ones are Masaryk Station Development with the majority owner Penta Real Estate and ČSAD Praha holding.
"These two owners want to make a change in the zoning plan to make the area more unified, and the capital has given them an announcement of an urban competition as a condition," explained Petr Návrat from ONplan Petr Návrat, which organized the competition.
The tender proposals had to take into account already approved projects in the locality. These are, in particular, the planned reconstructions of Na Poříčí and Na Florenci streets, the modernization of Masaryk railway station with the roof of the track, two buildings designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and the Florenc Gate office building in Křižíkova street.
