A young London practice – along with two local firms – has won an international master planning competition to regenerate the area of Florenc in Prague. Marko & Placemakers with Prague-based architect practices Unit Architekti and A69 – Architekti will design the 24ha regeneration area of Florenc, which is one the largest brownfield site close to the historic city centre. The practice said one of the most challenging tasks of the brief was to resolve the complex transport interchange hub including the bus station, metro station, nearby railway station and public transport links. Its vision called ‘Orchestrated complexity’ is intended to develop “the area’s unique character and identity through a compact and multifunctional urban framework”. Green infrastructure and the morphology of the buildings have been designed to maximise climate cooling, the Marko & Placemakers team added. The Florence 21 competition was launched by the City of Prague, Prague Institute of Planning and Development, Masaryk Station Development and ČSAD Praha Holding. It attracted 57 entries from all over the world.
Around 4,000 protestors have gathered on Wenceslas Square this Sunday. They are demonstrating against mandatory vaccination as well as alleged violations of personal freedoms and the Czech Constitution. The protest is organized by the initiative Chcípl pes, which opposes government Covid counter-measures. The demonstration under the statue of St. Wenceslas began with a song by Karel Kryl and a speech by the chairman of the initiative, Jakub Olbert. Demonstrators do not wear masks or keep enough space for social distancing. Protestors plan to march through the city center towards the Office of Government and Prague Castle. “We are only against compulsory vaccination, which the government is trying to introduce with the support of the Parliament of the Czech Republic,” the organizers said. At around 3 pm, the protesters marched from Wenceslas Square to the Straka Academy and from there to Hradčany. They plan to end the demonstration at the statue of the first Czechoslovak president Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk on Hradčanské náměstí. The outgoing Czech government has published a decree in the official Collection of Laws, requiring mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for all those over 60. The requirement would also apply to health workers, police officers, firefighters and the military. However, it...
Prague Pride has opened a new community center for LGBT + people at Železná 18, just a few steps from Old Town Square: the Rainbow House. The main goal is to create a safe and respectful environment in which “everyone can be themselves, regardless of their orientation and gender identity,” says Hana Třeštíková, Prague City Councillor for culture. The opening of the new community center took place symbolically on the eve of Human Rights Day, on December 10. With regard to the current situation, no public events will take place in the community center until the end of the year. “Since January, however, visitors can look forward to our open days, when it will be possible to visit the community center every Thursday between 3 pm and 9 pm. The main room features a library, PlayStation, board games and a jukebox. You can also just come and talk to friends or other visitors to the community space,” adds the director Tom Bílý. The Rainbow House, which has a capacity of up to 40 people, will host also lectures, discussions, screenings, support groups. In June 2019, according to a survey conducted between 4–14 May 2019 by CVVM, 48% of respondents said...
The company Technology for the Capital City Prague (THMP) has replaced the first few shelters at public transport stops operated by the French company JCDecaux. Passengers can already use the new shelters in Prague 13 at the Píškova and Velká Ohrada stops. The prototype of the transit stop has been tested in Palacký Square for almost two years. As mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) and THMP director Tomáš Jílek told journalists yesterday, their administration and the management of advertising spaces should be taken over by the transport company (DPP). From January 2022, THMP will receive 15 shelters every week. Each shelter costs about 350 thousand CZK. “Street furniture is an often overlooked but very important part of the city that we shouldn’t forget. In addition to providing user comfort, it should be attractive and easy to maintain. The new shelter has all of these attributes, so I’m pleased they will gradually start spreading throughout Prague,” said Mayor of Prague, Zdeněk Hřib. “We have rejected a proposal to extend this contract for seven years without competition. Prague deserves to have its own shelters and other elements of city furniture from benches to bicycle stands. The aim is for the city not to be...
Using minimal interventions, local practice U / U Studio has turned a neglected space into a new community asset. Underneath an elevated busy road at Vltavska, a neglected pedestrian underpass has been transformed into a colourful public space, supporting skateboarding, basketball, BMX, bouldering and other activities. While the space was previously avoided, it is now hoped that a range of residents and visitors, especially young people, will use it and feel welcome there. The transformation was led by local architecture practice U / U Studio, which is known for designing engaging skate parks across Prague and further afield. ‘As “skate architects”, we immediately knew that implementation of skateboarding and other leisure activities is the perfect way of healing this area,’ says Martin Hrouda from U / U Studio. ‘The skate community occupied this spot right after opening and is taking care of it. Putting new life and joy into the spot seems to be working and the place has become safe for everyone.’ The project team prioritised reuse, using minimal new materials in order to transform the space for better public use. Colourful paint – in red, pink and orange – has been used to enliven the concrete structure, including the...
Prague ranks 110th in the 2021 Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard with an average of 51 hours spent in congestion per year. This is 20% less than before the epidemic. Other Czech cities included in the scorecard include, Hradec Králové (53 hours on average spent in traffic jam per year), Pardubice (51), České Budějovice (38), Brno (36), Olomouc (31), Ústí nad Labem (24), and Ostrava (17). The study analyzed congestion in 1,064 cities in 38 countries. London is the world’s most congested city and. Drivers lost 148 hours in traffic jams last year, down just 1 percent from pre-COVID levels. In second place was Paris – a city where authorities have been far more proactive in putting emergency bike lanes in place and restricting motor traffic than the British capital has – on 140 hours, a 25 hour improvement. And in both cases, average last-mile motor vehicle speed actually improved by 10 per cent. To determine the cities that have the worst traffic, INRIX collects billions of anonymous data points daily from an array of sources, including connected vehicles, mobile devices, navigation units, fleet vehicles, road and garage infrastructure, and publicly available information on incidents. “For nearly every country across the...
The statue of the famous Czech nobleman and Austrian field marshal Josef Radecký had once stood in the Lesser Town square from 1858 to 1919 when it was removed due to objections from Italian diplomats. Now, Prague 1, and many other supporters of the chief of the general staff in the Habsburg Monarchy late in the Napoleonic Wars, are supporting the return of Marshal Radecký. However, there is a lot of confusion about whether they will be able to reinstall it. Jan Bárta, chairman of the Radecký Association, which seeks to return the work back to Malá Strana, added that they need a clear yes or no answer from politicians regarding the status of the monument. Currently, the representatives of the association have spent approximately 62 thousand crowns on preparatory project work, and they have managed to collect about 400 thousand crowns in the public collection. There are now 1,700 signatures under the petition for the restoration of the work. The return of the statue of Marshal Radecký also has the support of the City Hall of Prague 1. “Marshal Radecký was one of our most important military figures and I do not hide that I am one of...
KAPRAIN Group, in cooperation with TNI Group and Plopsa, a renowned Belgian operator of thematic family parks, will soon open the largest indoor amusement park in the Czech Republic: Majaland Praha. Within the park’s 10,000 sqm area, there are great attractions for young children and their parents with the theme of Maya the Bee and Viki the Viking. All of this is under one roof and directly connected to the shopping center Premium Outlet Prague Airport. Majaland Praha will open its doors on December 27. Visitors will be able to experience 15 impressive attractions, including an indoor roller coaster, where you’ll be zipping through Viking Vic’s domain, a 30-metre slide with an elevation of nine meters, a tilting “butterfly” chair-swing with a 16-meter flight path, a simulated 10-metre free fall, and many more. In addition to these attractions, the all-day entertainment and popular animated film audiovisual experiences, visitors will also be able to relax and refresh in cafes, restaurants and kiosks. Tomáš Novák, the owner of the TNI Group: “Nowadays, you have to offer visitors something unique, for example, a combination of entertainment and shopping. The emphasis on experience has become a trend, and Plopsa knows everything about giving people...
Uber is launching a new ride option in Prague called Uber Pet, through which you can give drivers a heads up that you’re bringing your pet along. The surcharge corresponds to the cheapest UberX tariff increased by a one-time fee of 50 CZK. More than half of households have a pet at home, and according to statistics, there are about two million dogs and a million cats in Czech families. Uber Pet will help both riders and drivers avoid any unwanted surprises. It might give you peace of mind that a driver is happy to have a pet in their car and won’t cancel as soon as they see your dog or cat (or another animal). All drivers using the Uber application in Prague can decide whether activate or not the Uber Pet option. “Czechs are a nation of dog breeders and we have often heard from our users that they would greatly appreciate the possibility of transporting their animal companions. We decided to meet their needs and prepare a tailor-made service. In addition, the novelty is appreciated by the drivers themselves, who can better prepare for transporting pets,” describes Štěpán Šindelář, Uber’s operations manager for the Czech Republic. To...
This year, among other things, one of the world’s biggest topics is climate change. The forecasts are not very attractive and the threat needs to be addressed globally. That is the reason why the Cities Race to Zero initiative was created with a goal to reduce the number of emissions of individual member cities by half. Prague – also joined the initiative. Prague’s commitment is clear: it must halve its emissions by 2030. In the spring of 2021, the Prague City Council approved the 2030 Climate Plan of the City of Prague, which is supposed to significantly help in this effort. The same goal have other 720 cities around the world, which have also joined the initiative. The capital of the Czech Republic also had its representatives attending the UN Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, where the fight against climate change was discussed. “This year, Prague was represented at the UN climate conference for the first time, and it intends to establish international cooperation following this participation. Among the cities represented, we intend to find like-minded partners with whom we can be of mutual inspiration. This is another essential step in the implementation of the Climate Plan, of which some projects are already being implemented. We started with the construction of...
The Czech Republic has the second-lowest affordable housing in Europe, but a new project is now hoping to solve this issue with affordable cooperative housing (DDB). Middle-income groups will soon benefit from up to a third of cheaper flats from the first Prague project of this type which will initially be built in Radlická Street in Prague 5. The city is also already negotiating construction in other parts of the city. “Cooperative housing is the fastest way to provide more affordable housing for Praguers – not only for young families or the elderly but also for representatives of professions key to the city’s operation and development, such as teachers, paramedics, firefighters or police officers,” said the Legislative Councilor and housing support Hana Kordová Marvanová, who has long been striving for affordable housing for the inhabitants of Prague. The main advantage of the project is that the city will provide land for the construction of apartment buildings. Thanks to this, the builder’s margin savings compared to the involvement of a commercial developer will save the people of Prague up to a third of the cost of purchasing housing. The procedure for specific DDB residential projects consists first in selecting suitable land...
The Czech online restaurant reservation service Restu.cz will cease operation by 31 December 2021. The main reason is the crisis in the restaurant business caused by the coronavirus epidemic. The company announced it on its website. The service catalog contains more than 17 thousand cafes and restaurants throughout the Czech Republic. Restu.cz allowed users to search for the best restaurants in their area, make reservations, and read and write reviews. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the company has canceled fees for restaurants for its services. If you have an account on Restu, you can download or delete your data in your account settings, which will be available until 31 December 2021. If you do not do so, all data will be deleted from your account. If you have a valid voucher, you can use it until 31 March 2022. Starting from 1.1.2022 the catalog will no longer be available. Starting from 1. 4. 2022 it will no longer be possible to use restaurant or Restu vouchers. If you still have a valid voucher after 31.3.2022 (i.e. a voucher with an expiry date later than 31. 3. 2022), you can email them at [email protected] with the voucher code and the bank...
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