Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague and the Architectura Association are organizing the Landscape Festival 2018 in Prague. During this summer, Prague will host the sixth annual international landscape festival with the focus on landscape architecture, reviving public spaces, urbanism, participation and art & design. The organizers of the festival made an open call for the prospective projects that will revive 13 specific locations within the city. 

All the project locations are situated in Prague 3 (Žižkov) and Prague 8 (Karlin): Štvanice Island, Rohanský Ostrov Island, Vítkov Hill and Žižkov Freight Railway Station, that are amongst the areas which will most likely undergo rapid changes in the future. The aim of this festival is to highlight the significance of (and the need for) presenting “Prague in a new environmental context” by reusing and redefining these specific project locations. 

The main theme emphasized by the organizers is “Prague Wilderness”, which rather sounds ambivalent yet obviously attracts attention, and is explained by the fact that: “The festival does not have a central area. Its main idea is a creation of an alternative tourist route to the overheated centre, the interconnection of the “Prague Wilderness” and the introduction of the potential of possible future centres of social activities of these city districts. In addition, the search for broader urban relations to other localities such as Holesovice Market, Bubny, Florenc, Palmovka, Olšanská or Jarov." 

The festival is quite significant because it paves the way for envisioning the future revitalizations in the city. It also displays how these locations could play a crucial role in improving the quality of urban landscapes as well as public spaces in the city centre of Prague. The organizers of the festival invite leading landscape architects, artists and creative people to prepare site-specific installations responding the needs of designated locations. And, the applications can be submitted as an individual or a collective work of several artists, architects, students or other interested professionals.Therefore, the open call and the festival introduce these locations as the potential platforms of discussions, creativity and interaction for initiating conceptual studies, competitions, exhibitions or student projects to be realized in the future. 

Landscape architecture has a great potential in the Czech Republic. The open call and the festival, therefore, highlights the need for improving the current use and quality of public spaces, raising awareness about the potential use of landscape design in the Czech Republic as well as enabling the diversity of social interactions in the city. The festival also tries to cultivate a dialogue among diverse group of actors in the city, mainly: architects, artists, students, citizens, visitors, the public and the private sectors.

Each year the festival presents initiatives of European landscape architecture, which in the future have a great potential for realizing similar projects in the Czech Republic. As a result, the festival draws attention to such areas and initiates their transformation within this festival. 

Important Dates:

Deadline for application of the projects: April 15, 2018

Announcement of the selected projects: April 20, 2018

Deadline of the realisation: June 15, 2018

Deinstallation: September 30, 2018

Applications:

1. Annotation of the project (max.1 page A4)

2. Expected budget (max. 50 000 CZK - approx. 2,430 USD -  incl. design and realisation)

3. Visualizations/sketchs of the proposed project

4. A list of used materials and technologies

Project Locations: 

1. Foot of the Vítkov Hill at the Florenc side:
2. End of the Kollárova street / Illusion of the access to the Vítkov Hill
3. Gap opposite the Forum Karlín / Illusion of the access to the Vítkov Hill
4. Access to the Vítkov Hill from the Na Špitálsku Street
5. Gap behind the Ponec Theatre
6. Staircase in the backyard behind the viaduct
7. Area around the entrance to the cycle path
8. Tachovské Square
9. Natural amphitheatre at the descent of the Vítkov Hill
10. Bridge at the descent of the Vítkov Hill to Žižkov
11. Lukášova street / street furniture
12. Entry to the tunnel
13. Basel (Basijeské) Square

Current situation of the selected project locations can also be seen here. 

The Map Of Locations:

The map can be downloaded from here.

For inquiring more information about the festival, contact: 

Jakub Hepp

E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: + 420 739 454 190

All images © Galerie Jaroslava Fragnera

> via Landscape Festival Praha 2018