SuperMost – SuperStudio – Creative Hub Most

The jury selected the following participants from among 27 entries:

architecten jan de vylder inge vinck + Atelier Starzak Strebicki + OBJEKTOR ARCHITEKTI
This competition team, which brings together the Belgian, Polish, and Czech architectural scenes, will foster a dialogue between research and practice, international architectural experience, and local knowledge. The Belgian studio architecten jan de vylder inge vinck is one of the most distinctive European firms today and is known for its experimental approach, sensitive transformations, and ability to work with the incompleteness and mutability of architecture. Their revitalization of the 1950s Belgian convention center, the Palais des Expositions in Charleroi, won the prestigious Mies van der Rohe Award this year. Atelier Starzak Strebicki systematically focuses on collaboration with municipalities and the urban-forming potential of civic architecture. The local Czech partner of the team, OBJEKTOR ARCHITEKTI, has long been dedicated to public buildings and working with urban public space in the Czech context.

GANKO + Miroslav Pazdera
An international team bringing together the Milan-based studio GANKO with Czech architect, educator, and curator Miroslav Pazdera. Their work is united by an interest in the contemporary city, public space, and the search for new layers of identity in places undergoing transformation. The GANKO studio operates at the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and cultural strategies, focusing on projects that respond to the social and environmental conditions of contemporary cities. In addition to their professional work, they are engaged in research, publishing, and education. The collaboration with Miroslav Pazdera brings detailed knowledge of the Czech context and experience with architectural and urban interventions in a post-industrial setting.

KUEHN MALVEZZI
A renowned Berlin-based architectural studio known for its projects involving cultural institutions, the transformation of public spaces, and a sensitive approach to both the historic and contemporary city. In its work, the studio integrates architecture, urban planning, and environmental strategies. It enters the competition in collaboration with the landscape architecture studio atelier le balto, which has long been dedicated to working with the urban landscape, vegetation, and public space, and with the engineering firm Transsolar Klima Engineering, which specializes in climate-sustainable solutions in architecture and urban planning. The team is united by an emphasis on the quality of public space, environmental responsibility, and the long-term adaptability of the urban environment.

Muoto
A French studio founded in Paris in 2003, whose work spans architecture, urban planning, research, and education. The studio is known for its minimalist approach, emphasis on structural simplicity, and the creation of flexible spaces that allow for diverse uses over time. In its projects, it combines cost-effectiveness, environmental sustainability, and openness to public life. The studio has completed a number of award-winning cultural, educational, and residential buildings and is among the leading figures on the contemporary European architectural scene.

Pelletier de Fontenay + SOA Architects
The partnership between the Montreal-based studio Pelletier de Fontenay and the Czech studio SOA Architects creates a team that combines international experience with detailed knowledge of the local environment. Pelletier de Fontenay focuses primarily on public and cultural buildings and emphasizes the relationship between architecture and its site, history, and social context. SOA architekti has long worked with themes of landscape, public space, and contemporary architecture in the Czech context. Together, they share an interest in the sensitive transformation of the urban environment and architecture understood as part of broader cultural and social processes.

The former library building is located northeast of the city centre on Moskevská Street, at the edge of the Pod Lajsníkem district (formerly Pod Šibeníkem), in an area with a high concentration of public institutions. In the immediate vicinity are the District Court complex, the Police of the Czech Republic building and the Moskevská Elementary School of Arts (ZUŠ Moskevská). The former District Library in Most was designed by architect František Kameník of the Regional Design Institute in Ústí nad Labem. Construction took place between 1978 and 1985, when the building was finally opened to the public. Originally planned for completion between 1978 and 1980, the project was delayed until 1985 due to structural modifications. The building was conceived as a modernist public structure based on a prefabricated-in-situ reinforced concrete frame with slab floors and a free layout structure. In addition to the library itself, the original layout included a cinema hall, an exhibition hall and a café.

The structural concept was based on the direct transfer of loads from the floor slabs to the columns via enlarged column capitals without significant beams, allowing for large spans and a high degree of spatial flexibility. During construction, however, it became apparent that the proposed structural system exhibited structural deficiencies, which required both gradual and substantial modifications to the design and construction process.