Studio Sitta

Theme of spooky, neglected urban spaces and their spontaneous colonisation by contemporary miserables is a recurring theme in our studio.

As cities expand, vertical and horizontal spaces are continually redefined, adapting to the pressing demands of urban living. Yet, beneath the expanse of our infrastructure lies a matrix of underutilized spaces, often overshadowed by their towering counterparts – the bridges that stitch our cities together. These underbridge spaces, ranging from small niches to vast expanses, remain dormant, echoing the hum of the traffic above, waiting for visionaries to tap into their latent potential.

We beckon students, especially visionaries amongst them, to reimagine these spaces, to transform them into dynamic, thriving communities. We are is searching for designs that can cater to a wide array of residents including animals and plants, ensuring a perfect blend of scalability, affordability and eco-consciousness. Students are to opt for an actual underbridge space anywhere in the world, keeping in mind aspects like ease of access, proximity to amenities, and potential for rejuvenating overlooked urban areas.

If you prefer Prague or the Czech Republic location, we have quite a few suitable tips. One of them is the under the Estacada Barrandov in Prague, tram #  4, 5, 12, 20.

https://architecturecompetitions.com/underbridge/

Jindřichův Hradec is a historic town of more than 21, 000 inhabitants in South Bohemia with an amazing photogenic scenery.Whilst its charm is indisputable, it is far from perfect. This town is a tresure trove full of opportunities. The town is waiting for your fresh minds not affected by burden of parochialism and comfortable inertia of locals.

Whilst there are clearly identified spots that hurt the public space and the town generally, the project is also open for new discoveries. We would like to keep the brief as open as possible. We expect that you would approach this project with an open mind. It is fine to create your own agenda as well to follow our  list of desirable interventions. Unlike well worn and often tired assignments in Prague, this place is to a great degree architectural terra incognita.

- connection of Vajgar (pond) with river Nežárka, design of spaces on fortifications

- concept of urban wateredge of Vajgar

- new parkhouse within historic fabric of town

- new waterfeatures / fountains, wells, streams etc

- concept for area of former military barracks 

- confluence of river Nežárka and Hamerský creek

It is up tou you to find more if you don’t find it on our list. The site visit is planned on the 1st March.

Hradištko is a village approximately 40 kilometres westwards from our faculty. It rests in an attractive landscape between two large rivers, Vltava and Sázava. The population is currently around 2300. The assignment has been formulated jointly with the studio Štempel Beneš and locals. A main task of the studio is to identify core issues and to decide which trajectory you wish to pursue. Whilst the agenda in our studio focuses on the open space, the assignments in the studio Stempel are concerned also with interior spaces, particularly of the castle and in the adjacent court. They would need to find a space for example for the library, info centre etc.

Students are encouraged to form interdisciplinary working groups. For this the conditions are almost ideal. Whilst students in our studio are mostly concerned with res publica, by cooperating with students from the studio Štempel, there is a chance to come up with holistic solutions.

For students in our studio we have identified a few topics which may be of an interest: park at the castle with pavilion and amphitheatre, castle court, fire brigade station, village square and bus stop.