Čeština
The Jože Plečnik Prize
The creation of the Jože Plečnik Prize dates back to the year 2018, when it was first awarded on the occasion of the national celebrations for the centenary of the founding of the Czechoslovak Republic. Its goal was to highlight the importance of Czechoslovak architecture over the last 100 years. The inspiration for this now prestigious prize was the life and message of a prominent personality – Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik – who was appointed by the 1st president of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, to restore Prague Castle and transform it into a dignified seat for the head of state of the newly created republic.
Through the years, the Jože Plečnik Prize has covered a wide spectrum of topics honoring the importance of architecture for the development of the country, cities and municipalities. The first edition of the prize, dedicated to the 100 Years of the founding of Czechoslovakia, was followed by “Honoring Czech Heritage preservation” in 2019, “Our countryside” in 2020, “Our cities” in 2021 and “Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Jože Plečnik” in 2022. The last award not only honored architects and professionals of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but it widened to include those of the V4 Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) plus Slovenia as a special guest. The President of the Czech Republic himself has presented the awards in the last two editions, which speaks to the amount of prestige that the Jože Plečnik Prize has gathered in the years since its inception.
The Central European Architecture Prize: Architecture for Humanity
The creation of the Central European Architecture Prize is the remarkable next step after five years of learning and developing the Jože Plečnik Prize format. In the year 2023, the prize is expanding its criteria and scope to architectural projects from all over the world. These criteria are not only inspired by Plečnik’s renowned work, but also by his vision and the legacy of his exceptional personality.
His architectural values, such as humanism, adaptability, modesty and understanding of the spatial and social context are the measure with which contemporary projects will be judged: architecture that promotes a harmonious environment and respects the human scale, experience and quality of life. Architecture for humanity.
The Committee
Architectural nominations for the Prize will follow the human-centered criteria mentioned above. The International Festival of architecture and urbanism Architecture Week Prague, in close cooperation with the International Union of Architects (UIA), the UNESCO and other prestigious educational institutions, has appointed a professional committee, whose task is to create a shortlist of nominated projects that are considered in line with Jože Plečnik’s ideals for humanistic architecture, regardless of the renown, size and capacity of the architectural practices. The committee will then vote for the winner projects based on their human-centered values: sustainability, craftmanship and technological quality, and social and contextual responsibility towards the environment and society.
The Nominees
Nominated projects from diverse architectural categories and their authors will be published on this website during early summer 2023. Up to five different projects will be selected as winners of the Jože Plečnik Prize 2023 in September, and representatives from the architectural practices will be invited to attend the award ceremony at Prague Castle on October 3, 2023, to receive the prize from the hands of the President of the Czech Republic.
The three day program will include social events, lectures, guided visits and much more.
Contact
Arch. Daniel Perogordo
daniel@architectureweek.cz
+420 725 996 764