Description of project by Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl Architects + Architecture Acts has won an international competition for a concert hall in Ostrava, the city’s mayor Zdeněk Macura announced on Thursday. The winning proposal was supported by six out of seven members of the jury.
The new 1,300 seat concert hall is sited adjacent to the existing House of Culture. The building was designed as a “perfect acoustic instrument in its case” in collaboration with Nagata Acoustics. The new building will provide performance space for the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, the leading Czech orchestra for commissioning contemporary music.
Urban traffic noise is shielded by positioning the hall facing the existing park on the building’s rear, while a new entrance on the promenade rises to glide over the top of the existing historical Cultural Center in a sky-lit lobby for the new hall. A dramatic complimentary contrast between new and old creates a cultural landmark for Ostrava.
The smooth case of zinc holds an “instrument” in an extended vineyard-type plan made of concrete and maple wood. Czech composer, Leoš Janáček’s theories of time will guide and give order to the concert hall’s interior geometry. Acoustic wall panels are organized according to scasovani, or rhythm, in three variants.
1. Znici = sounding
2. Scitaci = counting
3. Scelovac = summing
About the winning design, jury member Rafi Segal said, “It’s not the size of the building, but the importance and significance of it.” Another jury member, Krzysztof Ingarden, said “It is a fantastic piece of architecture considering very well the relationship between the City of Ostrava and the park behind the existing building. I believe the winning project will be an emblematic piece of architecture for Ostrava revitalizing the city as well.”
Steven Holl was born in 1947 in Bremerton, Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington and pursued architecture studies in Rome in 1970. In 1976 he attended the Architectural Association in London and established STEVEN HOLL ARCHITECTS in New York City. Considered one of America's most important architects.He has realized cultural, civic, academic and residential projects both in the United States and internationally. Most recently completed are the Cité de l'Océan et du Surf in Biarritz, France (2011).
Steven Holl is a tenured Professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture and Planning. He has lectured and exhibited widely and has published numerous texts.
Recently the office has won a number of international design competitions including the new design for the Contemporary Art Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, USA) and he has been recognized with architecture's most prestigious awards and prizes. Recently, he received the RIBA 2010 Jencks Award, and the first ever Arts Award of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards (2009). In 2006 Steven Holl received honorary degrees from Seattle University and Moholy-Nagy University in Budapest. In 2003 he was named Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
Steven Holl is a member of the American National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), the American Institute of Architects, the American Association of Museums, the Honorary Whitney Circle, the Whitney Museum of American Art; and the International Honorary Committee, Vilpuri Library, of the Alvar Aalto Foundation.
