Visionary, complex, thought-provoking. Three diploma projects from the FA succeeded in the Diploma Project Showcase

Every year, the Diploma Project Showcase compares the quality of studies at universities of architecture and related fields. This year, 90 graduates competed for the award. The projects were evaluated by a jury headed by Jan Mach. Other members were architects Jiří Janďourek, Pavel Kvintus and architect Barbora Weinzettlová and landscape architect Klára Salzmann. The judges mainly assessed the architectural quality of the submitted works addressing various types of assignments. The jury mentioned that they were pleased that "faculties and diploma projects are beginning to address more of the topics that we really need, i.e. creating environments that are variable over time and dependent on the rapidly changing needs of our society." The winner was Dominik Vácha from AVU with his design for Prague's new full-scale subcentre Promised 5. května.

Ruby Pavoučková won the 2nd prize of the ČKA for her work Conception of Landscape Solutuion of Revitalization of the Lusationa Neisse Upper Catchment Area, which she worked on under the supervision of Klára Salzmann. The jury was impressed by the scope and depth of the whole project. The judges appreciated the thorough analyses and the establishment of a vision for the transformation of the urban landscape. "The work is superbly graphic and represents another strong component of this diploma story. We thank you and hope that at least part of this work will be transformed into a realizable form, or at least spark a much-needed discussion in the Elbe River Basin and in the Liberec Region, through which this river flows," said the judges.

The Special Prize of Heluz and the Honorable Mention of the jury was awarded to the work Community Centre Tržnice by Laura Izabela Lukáčová, which was created under the direction of Ondřej Císler. The project deals with the adaptation and extension of the former market hall in Prague's Žižkov district, which includes a community café, a multifunctional hall, facilities for associations and a roof terrace. "The diploma project presents a complex design of the house with an emphasis on its composition and relationship to its surroundings. The author's choice of a clean and subtle composition, based on a skeletal support structure, lends the house an elegant vertical character," the jury evaluated.

Adam Zajaček's project Water Dam Fláje, which he worked on under the supervision of Petr Hájek, won the Special Prize of the Czech Centres. The work explores the possibilities of synergy of cultural and technological potentials of the Fláje waterworks. He is looking for an approach to enter the mountain landscape of the Ore Mountains with the data centre facility that would enable the development of the site while preserving its current values, including the unique dam, and at the same time being able to ensure the restoration of the natural integrity of the site. The jury appreciated the ease with which the author communicated and graphically illustrated his ideas. "The form of masking this purely technical new form with a kind of digitised rock is also interesting. We wish the project to receive the well-deserved media coverage it deserves and, if possible, to be presented and seen as much as possible," jury adds in the evaluation.

You can find all the awarded projects on the competition website. The catalogue can be downloaded below.