Cultural centre, Olomouc

Olomouc is a venerable city with a rich cultural tradition, and it even boasts a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the baroque Holy Trinity Column. Since the early 1990s, however, several notable pieces of contemporary architecture have been inserted into the city's historical core. The most outstanding is undoubtedly the conversion of the medieval castle into the Archdiocese Museum (2000–2006), following a competition in 1998 won by HŠH architekti.

The same client – the Olomouc Museum of Art – and a former HŠH architect, Jan Šépka, are behind the current design of the building for the Central European Forum. The Museum of Art abandoned its original plan for an architecture competition because of a dispute with the Czech Chamber of Architects. Foregoing the bright ideas that might have emerged from a competition, the museum decided to employ architects with whom it had already worked, namely Michal Sborwitz, who was entrusted with the task of renovating the original museum building, and Jan Šépka, who assumed responsibility for designing new buildings on the adjacent lots.

The aim of the Central European Forum is to follow cultural events within the Central European Region. Apart from creating a cultural platform for future activities, the Forum will concentrate on presenting diverse forms of artistic expression since the Second World War. Because of its varied programme, the complex of new and old buildings will house not only exhibition spaces but also an international research and training centre, a multi-functional hall with seating for 200, a new central depository for artistic works, plus the inevitable café, restaurant and bookshop.