Prague's Gordian Knot: our students suggested a possible form of the site around Florenc

Prague's Gordian Knot, as the territory was once named in the specifications of the Sedlák studio, is one of Prague's key but also objectively most complex places. A strategic location with enormous potential, showing both the inefficiency and impotence of the dialogue between the Prague capital, city districts and private investors - landowners. There is no unifying vision to transform one of the most urban and traffic-ravaged territories in the very centre of Prague. The location in the wider location of Florenc, the former station of Těšnov, Vítkov and, of course, Severojižní magistrála, is not only significant from the position of Prague, but also from the point of view of the whole Czech Republic.

The commissioning of the five-day student workshop, which took place under the auspices of Landscape festival Žižkov 2020, organised by Jaroslav Fragner Gallery (Architecture) on 16-20 September 2020, was a territory defined by the streets of Těšnov, Na Florenci, Havlíčkova, Hybernská, Husitská, Trocnovská and První Pluk.

The students were tasked with creating a fully-fledged Prague district. They should have thought conceptually, responded to the historically valuable context of the site, and sought answers to topical issues in urban construction. Last but not least, the goal was to create a neighborhood that was multilayered and beautiful, where they themselves wanted to live.

Here you can download the catalogue which was put together out of the workshop.