THE PHEASANTRY
OF THE PRAGUE CASTLE

Client… International Competition
Location… Prague, Check Republic
Area… 182,000 m² / 1,959,031.69 sq ft
Date… 1997
Author… Adriana Monroy / Armando Oliver

On May of 1997 the Prague Castle Administration, announced an open two-stage combined international competition for the redevelopment of the Pheasantry in the Prague Castle. The objective was to propose and design this space as a park/garden. The site included constructions of different periods varying from the renaissance, baroque and last century historicism up to Josip Plečnik interventions; an energy center which dated from the communist era and a new greenhouse which was being constructed. The first stage of the competition was anonymous. The eight best proposals were selected by a jury to advance to the second stage. On November of 1997 a jury integrated by Eva Jiřičná, Peter Davey, Giancarlo di Carlo, Zdeněk Novák, Ivo Koukol, among others gave the final verdict. We were honored with the third place.
Project Brief: Following the character of the area as a platform divided from the Castle by a deep ravine, the concept for this proposal is the idea of reunion platforms that integrate the park to the city.
The main character of the Pheasantry is the idea of horizontal fields in which visitors to the castle and also city inhabitants can find places for relaxation and temporary art exhibitions. These ideas generate the main structure of the park. Constructed structures joined through new interventions over the existing buildings were planned in a general strategy leaving most of them untouched but with new structures that joined the inside with the outside of the buildings.