SuperMost: CONFERENCE

YOU CAN REGISTER UNTIL 31.10.2025 VIA THIS FORM
Admission is free for the public, thanks to the support of the City of Most.

The international conference was created in cooperation between the city of Most and CCEA MOBA and is part of the SuperMost project focused on the comprehensive revitalization of the city center.
The conference addresses the exceptional urban, architectural, and social phenomenon of the new Most – a city built in the second half of the 20th century as a replacement for the historic old Most, which was demolished due to coal mining. The interdisciplinary program offers a platform for discussion among experts in art history and architecture, urban planning, sociology, and environmental sciences, as well as representatives of public administration and the general public.
The aim is to critically reflect on the legacy of radical transformation while formulating new approaches and opportunities for Most in the context of the climatic, social, and cultural challenges of the 21st century.
In addition to invited Czech and international experts, the conference will also feature members of the expert juries of the ongoing competition dialogues: SuperPrior: New Use of the Department Store; SuperRadnice: Artistic Intervention in the Town Hall Building; SuperCentrum: Revitalization of the City Center.
Program curators: Yvette Vašourková, Markéta Žáčková

The conference is structured into four thematic blocks:
– Post-war Gesamtkunstwerk and the Reuse of Modernist Architecture
– Public Space of the Second Half of the 20th Century Today
– Pathways to Urban Transformation
– Quality Housing – A Key to Urban Attractiveness

Program

Introduction
10:00–10:15 
Igor Kovačević (CCEA MOBA)
Marek Hrvol (Mayor of the City of Most)
Jana Falterová Zudová (City Councillor of Most)

Opening Keynote
10:20 –10:40
Matěj Spurný (Institute of Contemporary History, Czech Academy of Sciences; Faculty of Arts, Charles University): The Birth of New Most in the Context of Modernist Visions of the Second Half of the 20th Century

Block I: Postwar Gesamtkunstwerk and the New Use of Modernist Buildings
10:40–11:50
Moderator: Markéta Žáčková (CCEA MOBA; Faculty of Fine Arts and Faculty of Civil Engineering, Brno University of Technology)
Ladislav Jackson (Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology; University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice): “Endangered Species”: Erasing the Architecture and Public Art Works of the Second Half of the 20th Century
Martin Trávníček (Architect): The City Centre. What Next?
Martin Krsek (Senator for District No. 31 – Ústí nad Labem; Regional Museum in Ústí nad Labem): Transforming Post-war Cultural Heritage in the Ústí nad Labem Region: Historical Reflections and Political Practices
Initiatives in Action – Luděk Prošek: Gallery Bunkr
Discussion: Modernist Architecture as a Catalyst of Social and Cultural Change: Limits and Opportunities of New Programs and Functions

12:00–13:30 – Lunch
Guided Tour of the City Centre with Tomáš Pavlíček (Department of Art History and Theory, Faculty of Art and Design, Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem)

Block II: Public Space of the Second Half of the 20th Century Today
13:30 –14:40
Moderator: Yvette Vašourková (CCEA MOBA)
Ondřej Beneš (Faculty of Architecture, Czech Technical University in Prague): Most as a Space of Transformation
Areti Markopoulou (IAAC Advanced Architecture Barcelona): Active Public Space: Gamifying, Sensing & Customising the City
Joke Vande Maele (Kollektif Landscape, Belgium): Growing Urban Nature: Flagey Square, Brussels
Initiatives in Action – Václav Šťovíček: The Story of Ekokul Association
Discussion: Contemporary Approaches to the Renewal of Modernist Public Spaces and Opportunities for Their Redefinition

14:40–15:10 – Coffee Break
Presentation of the exhibition Most Creative Space (VR, 3D city model) by Martin Špoula

Block III: Pathways to Urban Transformation
15:10–16:20
Moderator: Jan Harciník (Commission for Architecture and Urbanism, City of Most)
Eva Němcová (Regional Development Agency of the Ústí Region): Most in the Context of a Transforming Region: The Specificities of Post-Mining Landscapes as a Basis for Further Development
Winy Maas (MVRDV, Rotterdam): Most 3.0
Gilles Delalex (Muoto – studio d’architecture, Paris): Tour Réservoir, Le Havre — Renovation of a 1960s Prefabricated Housing Block
Initiatives in Action – Romana Pavlíčková: Public Space as a Site for Education
Discussion: Global Inspirations, Local Needs

16:20–16:50 – coffee break
Presentation of the exhibition 'The Image of the Basin' with content curator Eva Němcová. The project was prepared by the team of the Regional Development Agency of the Ústí Region.

Block IV: Quality Housing – The Key to an Attractive City
16:50–18:00
Moderator: Vojtěch Kubát (Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic)
Alexandre Reznikow (Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic): Limited-Profit Housing Companies and Housing Quality
Martino Tattara (Dogma, Brussels): Possibilities: The Transformation of Post-war Housing
Jakub Nakládal (architect, researcher, Re-set, Prague): The Baugruppe Model – A Case Study from the Czech Republic
Initiatives in Action – Anna Králová and David Knížek (Architects Without Borders): Practical Approaches to Affordable Housing
Discussion: **Housing Quality as a Fundamental Pillar of Urban Development***

Closing Keynote
18:00–18:20
Lieven De Cauter (Philosopher, Writer, and Activist, Ghent): On the Dialectic Between Top-Down and Bottom-Up

Discussion and Closing Summary
18:30–19:00

19:30-22:00 – Concert by Anna Beata Háblová and After Party by DJ Never Sol

Accompanying program:
Martin Špoula – Most Creative Space: exhibition, VR, 3D city model
Regional Development Agency of the Ústí Region – exhibition Image of the Basin
Tomáš Pavlíček – Guided tour of the city center with a special focus on artworks and design products in the Prior department store
Romana Pavlíčková – Children’s workshop: My Most of Tomorrow: The City I Want to Live In