In Hradec Králové, the Landscape Festival will begin on June 4th, transforming public space

An international festival of landscape architecture and public space art, Landscape, will begin on Thursday, June 4th, in Hradec Králové. Until September, it will transform some streets, parks, long-neglected places, and cultural institutions into a vibrant platform for debate about public space. The organizers informed ČTK about this. The Landscape festival has been held annually in a different Czech city for over ten years.

"I am very pleased that this year we will welcome the Landscape festival in Hradec Králové. I believe that this prestigious event will revitalize the city and many of its previously overlooked corners, showing their potential to the widest public," said Adam Záruba (independent), Deputy for Environment, Spatial Planning, Urbanism, Architecture, and Heritage Care.

According to the organizers, Hradec Králové, with a population of around one hundred thousand, has many challenges ahead, such as neglected peripheries and unused brownfields. "This year, the city and the department of the chief architect invited the festival to Hradec Králové. Few people today realize why the city was truly referred to as the salon of the Republic during its period of expansion," the organizers stated.

This year's festival edition will refer to Hradec Králové's mayor František Ulrich, who led the city hall from 1895 to 1929. Thanks to him, the city acquired a modern appearance after the demolition of the fortress and experienced significant development. It gained rail and road connections and regulation of the Elbe and Orlice rivers. Ulrich invited prominent architects Jan Kotěra and Josef Gočár, and it was during this period that Hradec Králové began to be referred to as the salon of the Republic.

"The individual interventions will respond directly and indirectly to this reference. The locations are chosen to reflect current questions and challenges of Hradec Králové and have the potential for lasting transformation," the organizers stated.

The four-month festival program includes dozens of installations in public spaces, exhibitions, debates, conferences, happenings, and guided walks. For example, in the city center at Ulrich Square, a wooden structure resembling a garden gazebo has been created, filled with flowers by volunteers. The festival will also extend into the region, reaching Červený Kostelec and the village of Vlkov in Náchod.

"Hradec Králové is a fascinating city for us. It earned the nickname salon of the Republic not by chance. Jan Kotěra, Josef Gočár, Mayor František Ulrich, they all knew that the city needs to be planned with a broader vision. Today, we are interested in whether this ability for long-term vision has persisted or whether we need to awaken it again. And that is exactly what the festival can contribute to," added Dan Merta, the founder and director of the Landscape festival.