Moravské Náměstí is a busy square in the centre of Brno. As it lies right on the Brno ring road (boulevard), thousands of people walk and drive through it every day. Few of them, however, realize the historical complexity of the spacious area, which used to be part of the fortification system of the city.
The last chapter of its history was written last summer when the square was temporarily adjusted to suit the needs of a multigenre festival Meeting Brno. The festival’s main motto – Unity in Diversity – paraphrases the official motto of the European Union and its physical manifestation was designed by the Brno
architecture studio Chybik+Kristof.
The installation sought to commemorate particular
historical milestones as well as demonstrate unexpected connections with an objective to induce the desire for solidarity and unity, call for tolerance and initiate a debate about contemporary socio-political issues.
Summer 2017
The assignment for 2017 was to create a summer pavilion that included a stage, bar, beer terrace, and outdoor gallery with necessary facilities. The task was to create a pavilion that would become a lively urban scene under the open sky where various genres and types of culture mingle with social events and a gastronomic program.
The pavilion penned by Ondřej Chybík and Michal Krištof was based on the schematic diagram of the floor plan of the German House. It made use of a 78 metres long, 39 metres wide and 18.5 metres high construction made of scaffolding tubes of a total weight of 50 tonnes. The facade sign proudly communicated, in the languages of all the nations that were represented at the square, the main motto of the festival – Unity in Diversity.
The central part of the pavilion served as a stage, its right wing hosted a bar and a beer terrace, and the left wing was dedicated to an outdoor gallery with an artwork exposition. A red star painted on the pavement dominated the central area while an artistic reference to the communist sculptural group was supplied by the sculptor Pavel Karous.
Concrete pyramids were installed in the main axis of the square leading towards the city centre to commemorate fallen Red Army soldiers. The oldest, long-forgotten historical layer of the square, the medieval city walls, was transformed into a simple fence and there were also information boards describing individual fragments.
Moravské Náměstí as a manifesto of Czech history
The installation commemorated particular historical layers, cultures, and nationalities whose imprints are retained in the history of the city of Brno and the whole Czech lands.
They document dramatic social changes that initiated a majority of
transformations of the square area. One could argue, with slight exaggeration, Moravské Náměstí is a hidden manifesto of our history that illustrates cultural diversity that has always been and will be, present. Source by Chybik+Kristof.
- Location: Brno, Czech Republic
- Architect: Chybik+Kristof
- Project Team: Ondrej Chybik, Michal Kristof, Krystof Foltyn, Martin Holy, Lucie Skorepova, Ivo Stejskal
- Year: 2017
- Photographs: Lukas Ildza, Lukas Pelech, Fabrice Fouillet, Courtesy of Chybik+Kristof
