Prague's Mariánské náměstí will become a pedestrian zone starting at the end of September

Mariánské náměstí, the square in front of Prague City Hall, will start to be transformed as of the second half of September.

The Prague Institute
of Planning and Development (IPR) has selected studio Xtopix to make
a study proposing a new design for the square. As part of the
European Mobility Week, held September 15–22, a temporary
transformation of the square will begin.

The provisional
proposal envisages a pedestrian zone and changes in the traffic
regime. Mariánské náměstí will continue to operate in this
manner until the study is finished at the beginning of next year.

“Mariánské
náměstí is a place where, besides the City Hall, there are other
major Prague institutions such as the Municipal Library and National
Library, but currently it is rather confusing and functions more like
a parking lot than a square. I am pleased that a multi-disciplinary
team of architects, transport engineers, water managers and landscape
architects will be working on the transformation,” Prague Deputy
Mayor Petr Hlaváček (United Force for Prague) said in a press
release.

Xtopix studio, which
is dedicated to architecture, urban design and graphic design, will
create a design of Mariánské náměstí by the beginning of next
year. Until the actual reconstruction, the square will operate in a
temporary regime, which will turn it into a pedestrian zone with
public chairs, trees, art installations and other elements. In
addition to this visual change, there will occasionally be a program
that will be co-ordinated by IPR, the Municipal Library, Prague City
Hall, Prague City Gallery, and other institutions.

The studio will
incorporate public opinion into a new shape of the square. From
September 21 to October 1, the IPR will have an information container
on site to get people’s ideas or comments on how the square should
change in the future.

“We will be glad
if the Praguers give us their opinion on what the square should look
like, what should not be missing, or what its content should be. We
are trying to create a space in the center of Prague that will not
only be a stopover for tourists, but a place of rest for local
people,” IPR director Ondřej Boháč said.

The New City Hall (Nová radnice) was built in 1908–11, after a design by architect Osvald Polívka. It has a facade in the Art Nouveau style with sculptures by noted artists Stanislav Sucharda, Josef Mařatka and Ladislav Šaloun,