“We would like to inform you that your project of the synagogue reconstruction has been chosen by international committee from 200 other projects and has won the price Bauwelt Advacement Award 2013“.
This e-mail we received on Monday the 5th of November from the chief editor of Bauwelt Kaye Geipel magazine. The price with financial contribution of 5 thousand euro will be given to us during the ceremony in Munich on 15th of January 2013.
The Bauwelt magazine is about architecture, urbanism and culture and has been published in Berlin since 1910. Every year 5 prices are given to first realized projects of young architects and one special price for project, which is not finished yet, but needs support. This special price will be going to Žilina thanks to the panel members: Anne-Julchen Bernhardt,
André Kempe,
Enrique Sobejano,
Volker Staab and Ludwig Wappner.
It is surprise and honour mostly for our colleagues – the architect Martin Jančok, all designers, also for Magda Kvasnicová, Peter Szalay, Ivan Pilný and Ján Hromada who has been working for months on the monument research. The project which joined the Bauwelt competition was the result of our teamwork. Except the financial price, which we need as salt, the price is connected to project publishing in specialized media and exhibitions. And this is also very helpful. The price award will happen in Munich in BAU exhibition, where we will personally introduce it.
“We were impressed by the courage which the young team put into saving of the Peter Behrens monument , which is not much known to us here in Germany. Between the price candidates was also the S2 project of cultural centre Žilina-Záriečie. In the end we decided to promote the ambitious synagogue project, which is only being realized and needs the support, “ explains the committee decision Kaye Geipel from Bauwelt and also says: “We will be following up the reconstruction in the future. When we were reviewing the project we were afraid, that the inner steel ramp might disturb the original Behrens architecture. When we discovered that it was planned only as a temporary solution, it was done and the price award was definitely decided. “
The reconstruction will be overseen by Committee for Behrens synagogue reconstruction, whose members are Henrieta Moravčíková (ÚSTARCH SAV Bratislava), Matúš Dulla (FA ČVUT Praha), Iveta Černá (Vila Tugendhat Brno, Ján Krcho (FU TU Košice), Miloš Dudáš (Krajský pamiatkový úrad Žilina), Pavel Frankl (ŽNO Žilina). The nearest opportunity to visit the synagogue during this reconstruction phase is special composition concert by Marek Piaček on Wednesday 7th of November 2012 and Thank you that you accept taking our part Exhibition as a part of Memory Kontrol festival from 12th to 16th of November 2012.
NGO Truc sphérique is the owner and developer of the cultural centre Stanica Žilina-Záriečie and from 2011 is also renting the neolog synagogue building. The building is the property of Zilina’s Jewish community. The community is supporting our project by giving it to us for 30 years at symbolic rent payment. In 2011 there was mostly research and planning and in January 2012 the reconstruction has begun. So far during the reconstruction architectonical interventions were removed. Now it has the look of the original Behrens’s architecture and it is ready for renewal. Now it all depends on the financing. Except one small grant from the Ministry of Culture of Slovak Republic, all has been so far done by funds from donators and sponsors. To join the public donation campaign please go to www.kunsthalle.sk.
