The center of Brno will be adorned with new light garlands designed by the group Visualove

Brno – New light garlands will decorate five streets in the center of Brno this autumn. The city announced its intention to renew the decorative lighting two years ago, and the competition for its design has now concluded. The winning group is Visualove, which has been involved in projects such as the appearance of giant inflatable planets at the Brno planetarium. The design features garlands composed of vertical rods in the colors of Brno, namely red and white, which form strips of various simple ornaments. The results of the competition were announced in a press release by the Center for Central European Architecture.

Ten designs entered the competition, and the jury asked the authors to develop four of them in more detail, awarding prizes to the three best. The authors of the winning design are architects Jan Machát and Michal Okleštěk, along with artist Veronika Šmírová under the Visualove brand. "The winner of the competition is a good, well-presented design. The authors strike a dignified compromise between formally connecting to the typical garland and choosing a cleaner, contemporary form,” stated jury chairman Svatopluk Sládeček, an architect and founder of the Brno studio New Work.

The current design of the lighting in the streets of Česká, Masarykova, Běhounská, and Kobližná mimics the lighting from the 1970s. Most of them feature either the Brno logo or that of some city districts. The beginnings of festive street lighting in the historic center date back to 1959, when the first international engineering fair was held in Brno. The lighting underwent renovation nearly 15 years ago, but the city leadership considers it aesthetically outdated. The city council has already approved the results of the competition.