/en/article/15220/2009-building-of-the-year-traditionally-untraditional/ 2009 Building of the Year: traditionally untraditional

2009 Building of the Year: traditionally untraditional

As usual, the 17th year of the Building of the Year contest was traditionally untraditional. Even though this year the organizers feared that the number of contestants would be affected by the current economic crisis, the change was not too big. 55 buildings were submitted. The construction sector seems to have a certain delay because in-progress projects simply have to be completed, plus there are many types of buildings that cannot be omitted. These 55 buildings were highly varied – from family houses to apartment houses, libraries and cultural centres to roads and tunnels.

The structure of submitted projects was probably the most varied of all seasons and gave a lot of stimuli for contemplation – cultural centres and libraries are usually built during times of abundance, when the basic needs of all settlements are catered for; the large number of such buildings was therefore an interesting indicator. The number of buildings for residential purposes is also interesting; there were a dozen of them submitted, followed by nine transport projects, four projects for college students, but only two industrial buildings. Office buildings traditionally have a high share, even though there are almost no buildings erected as the seats of specific companies; this trend seems to have come to a final end. A dominant portion comprises office buildings for rental, and this fact is obvious in their architectural design, which is universally strict and with a dry expression. Only Prague as such is unique, because there the investor has to be able to attract attention not only through the quality of equipment, but also with a novel, new architectural concept (even though at the cost of demanding balancing tricks, this year mostly in terms of design).

2009 Building of the Year: Study and Scientific Library in Hradec Králové, apartment house Na Topolce in Prague, shopping centre City Park Jihlava, Prague Railway Node New Connection and office centre Classic 7 Business Park in Prague.

Traditionally, most of the submitted projects, 19 in total, came from Prague, and unfortunately only two from Southern and Western Bohemia, also in line with traditions; this year, Southern Moravia also had a low share, rather unexpectedly.

The evaluation procedure was also traditional – round 1 was based on the documents accompanying the applications and 27 buildings were sent to round 2; the panel looked at them in July. Then it decided on 15 nominations and chose 5 projects. Untraditionally, another award was added – in addition to the usual Organizers’ Award, the State Housing Development Fund’s Award, the Senate Chairman’s Award and, as of last year, the State Fund for Transport Infrastructure’s Award, two other awards of the State Environmental Fund, the Development News Award and the renewed Prague Lord Mayor’s Award were added this year; most awards even have their nominations. On the one hand, this could look like a “prize” devaluation, on the other hand it is great to see that the society realizes the importance of construction works increasingly and wants to express on them in a way.

Other awards: Multipurpose centre Fabrika in Svitavy (Senate Chairman’s Award), National Technical Library (Prague Lord Mayor’s Award and State Environmental Fund’s Award), residential complex in Nové Měcholupy (State Housing Development Fund’s Award), Railway Node New Connection (State Fund for Transport Infrastructure’s Award), family house in Heřmanův Městec (State Environmental Fund’s Award).

Of course, this does not only include professionals and sector representatives, but also the general public – the vote on the award of the public was traditionally open on the Internet immediately after the nominations were given; as a new feature, it was also possible to vote via SMS. Soon enough, September could become the month of good buildings and, in particular, the month of the public’s interest in building activities. Add to this the open door days in the participating buildings…

You can find the results of the 2009 Building of the Year here.

 
 
Autor: Radomíra Sedláková, Dátum 06.10.2009