Why did you decide to participate in City Visions Europe?

Well, there were two aspects. First of all the urban processes and questions that are the focus of City Visions are our daily bread. We’re confronted with them on a day-to-day basis in our projects. Approximately 40 percent of our commissions are urban projects, where these issues are nearly always relevant, but they also concern our architectural commissions. The other aspect is definitely the reputation of the challenger, i.e. the Berlage Institute, and our expectation that this project will offer us good conditions for thinking about these problems, which we often can’t find in commercial commissions. And of course we also enjoy sharing our experiences with the other participating teams.

You already developed another project for the city of Pilsen before this one. Where exactly is it located and what was it about?

Yes, we won a competition for the masterplanning of South Pilsen. That’s a site of more than 600 hectares. The city wanted to collect some strong ideas about its future development before involving a project developer or another commercial party, so they organized this competition. We presented a vision, and now we’re preparing a change of masterplan together with the development department of the city. It’s in negotiation now and should be implemented by the end of this year.

So your project will be realized?

Yes, at least we all hope so. These plots are very attractive, and the pressure that project developers exert on the city is extraordinary, so you never know.

I guess that you visited Pilsen a few times for this project. Did you already know the site along Tyrˇsova Street before? Were you already aware of its existence, problems and potential?

Yes, I was even involved as a jury member in some competitions that dealt with plots just opposite this site. And when we develop a project, we always study the entire city and not just our site, so we also noticed Tyrˇsova Street in the context of our former project. I think we know the centre of Pilsen by heart...

What do you think about the site?

I’m a bit sceptical about its borders. But as I understood from the planning department, they’re just guidelines and the participants are allowed to review them and make a proposal that may go beyond these limits. And of course the area contains a lot of typical problems of the mid-sized city: road traffic, undeveloped or only partly developed areas that require a change of function, and so on. There are also disagreements among the city, private owners of plots and the inhabitants of Pilsen about what to do with the site. All of this is concentrated in a small area, so the density of programmes and opinions makes it very interesting.

Do you agree with the city that Tyrˇsova Street, forming a barrier to pedestrians and cutting the site off from the city centre, is the major challenge of this project?

At the moment I don’t know. We’ll have to study the transport system of the whole city first. Then you can judge whether this road has functions that are crucial for the entire system, even if they create certain limits for the area. If that’s not the case, we’d have to think about a reduction of the road or maybe about level changes, meaning bridges, overground passages or a tunnel. But I can’t tell yet. We need to find some up-to-date information about this and also discuss it with some local transport engineers before I dare to say anything about it.

Interview by Anneke Bokern for City Visions Europe.