Malostranské Square

In collaboration with Jakub Straka, Michal Tichý, and Vít Havránek, we created a competition proposal for the revitalization of another of Prague’s important squares, which took second place.

For centuries, public squares have historically and symbolically served as a complex intersection of relationships. Therefore, a symbolic (artistic) approach to the space is not merely a matter of architectural opinion but must take into account the process of public deliberation and the collective mindset of society. In European culture, the square is a space inextricably linked to the public negotiation of opinions and interests, and to the public resolution of disputes. The process of creating decorations, symbols, statues, sculptures, and installations should be open, gradual, and long-term, in harmony with the spirit of the times, and guided by a republican ethos—that is, the republic—res publica, a public matter. That is why we conceived the architecture of the square as an empty space that does not predetermine events, as a linchpin of diversified functions, a tabula rasa of the plebiscite, an unchanging framework for the ephemeral.