Fine art has always had its place in the Prague metro, from Jaroslav Otruba's iconic aluminum tiles on Line A, through various sculptures and mosaics, to modern art projects. The new D line is no exception at Metroprojekt. Its individual stations are in various stages of preparation, and competitions for artistic designs are gradually being held in cooperation with the Prague Public Transport Company, Metroprojekt, the National Gallery, and architect David Vávra. The most recent competition was for the artistic design of the Libuš station.
The competition jury evaluated four competition designs submitted by Michal Cihlář, Hana Puchová, Jaromír Švejdík, and the group Julius Reichel, Roman Výborný, and Roel Jeroen van der Linden. All of them submitted distinctive works based on their favorite and proven techniques.
Michal Cihlář, a Czech graphic artist, illustrator, photographer, and designer associated with graphics for the Prague Zoo, based his design on the linocut technique and chose the Modřanská rokle natural monument as his motif. The jury particularly appreciated the technical quality and story behind the motif of the competition design.
Hana Puchová, a painter and illustrator whose most frequent themes are portraits, still lifes, and the environment in which people live, brought a poetic painting with a motif of wild geese to the platform space. She thus recalled the history of this location with its reputation for goose breeding since the Middle Ages and the goose feather in Libuš emblem.
Jaromír Švejdík / Jaromír 99, singer, songwriter, composer, artist, and co-author of the cult comic trilogy Alois Nebel, also took landscape motifs in his design and was inspired by his recent stay in Portugal. The result was an elaborate design in the spirit of blueprint.
Julius Reichel is an intermedia artist who creates objects and paintings. In his work, he blurs the boundaries between image and object. The playfulness of his works attracts attention and forces the viewer to decipher the author's message. It was this playfulness that he transferred to the winning design for the Libuš station. Artists Roman Výborný and Roel Jeroen van der Linden also participated in the design. This trio of artists won the competition with their design featuring original ornamental drawings milled into the tiles and proposed original sculptures for the platform and the area above the station. The design sparked a number of passionate debates and questions, which is what art is all about today.
Art is meant to evoke emotions. Metroprojekt is now beginning to work with the competition winner so that the selected artists, together with the station architect (Michaela Kulhavá), the architect of line D (Pavel Sýs), and the station designers, can find the optimal way to incorporate the competition design into the project documentation for the Libuš station.
Winning design:
