Let’s start with the vision behind the Florenc 21 project. What does it aim to solve in the district, and how is it tackling housing and sustainability?
“The Florenc area is currently the largest brownfield in the historic part of Prague. For residents, it represents a major barrier, a scar on the face of the city. One of the main goals is to build a modern and sustainable district here. The new development will link New Town with Karlín, as well as connect the park near Těšnov with Vítkov Hill. New public spaces will reconnect streets that are currently disconnected. This is how the scar in the city will be healed.”
There’s also an emphasis on balancing residential, commercial, and public uses in the project. Could you elaborate on that?
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s certainly not our goal to create a monofunctional district where life only happens at certain times of day. We want to create a neighborhood that is vibrant 24 hours a day. We will achieve this through a diversity of functions. There will be residential and office buildings, and a hotel is also planned. The ground floors of many buildings will be designated for commercial uses and services.”
This is a very busy part of the city. There’s the metro, university spaces, trams, highways, and the bus station. Is this project part of addressing that congestion, or will there be other projects as well?
“It’s important to say that the whole area will be a pedestrian or car-free zone, where only pedestrians and cyclists can move freely. One of the major challenges is addressing the future form of the city’s North–South Magistrála, which runs directly through the Florenc 21 area. As city architects, we are exploring how to transform this high-speed roadway into an urban boulevard that is friendlier to its surroundings. This was also an important aspect of the architectural competition, where teams proposed temporary uses for spaces under the viaducts, while ensuring that building designs would allow for the potential removal of the Magistrála in the future.
“There are several scenarios for the Magistrála. One option is to transform it into a boulevard that accommodates pedestrians and cyclists. Another long-term scenario is that the Magistrála could be removed entirely at this location.
“I’d like to add something important. In 2021, an international urban planning competition was held for this area, resulting in a master plan. This master plan defined things like building heights and massing. Then, in 2025, architectural competitions were held for the specific building designs. These designs followed the parameters established in the earlier competition. It’s important to understand that while the architectural competitions were recent, the urban planning competition took place four years earlier.”
And how often do international urban competitions like that happen?
“That large urban competition four years ago was one of the first of its kind in Prague. But they are becoming more common now, with other locations in the city following a similar approach.”
