Motel One Hybernská Art

The competition's subject was the artwork design for the atrium of a new hotel in Prague 1. The atrium will be accessible via three passageways and will form the heart of the building. One of the passageways will lead directly to the walkable roof of Masaryk Railway Station, while the other two will connect to Opletalova Street and the Main Train Station. With the hotel's completion, the sidewalk on Hybernská Street will also be widened.
The artwork is expected to be installed in situ by the end of April 2024, ready for the Grand Opening on May 1, 2024.
The outdoor artwork should be robust and, in a way, durable or even “unbreakable.” The atrium space where the artwork will be located will be open to the public, and at the same time, it is a space facing the hotel rooms. Therefore, the artwork should avoid overly disruptive elements, such as light or sound, that could disturb hotel guests, especially during nighttime hours. The artwork is not intended to include any water features. Ideally, considering it will be maintained using the client’s resources, the piece should contain as few electronic components as possible.

The jury awarded first and second place, thus selecting a winner and a runner-up:
1 - Jan and Kryštof Ambrůz
2 - MALBA Kolektiv
The jury recommends proceeding further with Jan and Kryštof Ambrůz, precisely (though not exclusively) with the “drinking fountain” concept. In this context, it also recommends considering potential flexibility in the completion timeline—specifically, assessing whether it is necessary to adhere strictly to the set deadline for realization.
Jan and Kryštof Ambrůz proposed a work centered around a striking vertical element pointing upwards, symbolically representing a bird drinking fountain. With a strong sense of spatial design, the artists used the main sidewalk axis and the cornice as fixed horizontal elements, effectively integrating the piece into the context and location.
This object was designed exclusively for the outdoor spaces of the Cloud One hotel. Its final form will be structurally simple but unique.
After individually evaluating each proposal, the jury agreed on the exceptional nature of this work, particularly praising its intense emotional impact, conceptual depth, and compositional subtlety.
The jury also values that the piece is not “just” an aesthetic contribution but has lasting value that enriches the public/private space and communicates with visitors through its distinctive artistic language.
Should the investor and the selected artists be unable to reach an agreement for any reason, the jury recommends proceeding with the work of the MALBA Collective—either their original proposal of three identical corten steel objects in the atrium or the updated version (variant 1), which features a colored corten-covered drawing of a Porsche.