Mladá Boleslav RAF Memorial, Czechia

The single-phase competition – organised by the Centre for Central European Architecture (CCEA MOBA) on behalf of the Statutory City of Mladá Boleslav – will select a design to be located in front of the Metoděj Vlach Aviation Museum commemorating RAF personnel associated with the region.

The project aims to create a memorial with ‘high artistic quality and a contemporary visual language’ that honours the many pilots and ground personnel from the area who fled the country and served for the RAF during the Second World War.

According to the brief: ‘The aim of the competition is to create a memorial which, with high artistic quality and a contemporary visual language, will commemorate the members of the Royal Air Force from the Mladá Boleslav region – pilots, their families, and ground personnel – whose destinies are bound up with the struggle for freedom.

‘The memorial is to be not only a bearer of historical memory, but also a compelling contemporary work in the public realm, capable of engaging the public visually, emotionally, and intellectually.

‘The competition is intended to bring a plurality of perspectives on how the theme of collective memory can be artistically mediated today, and how commemorative meaning can be translated into a site within the civilian urban landscape.’

Founded in 1130, Mladá Boleslav is a major industrial settlement which is home to Škoda Auto company. The area is strongly associated with the Czech aviation pioneer Metoděj Vlach and during the war many local aviation experts left to serve for the RAF in campaigns including the Battle of Britain.

The new memorial will occupy a prominent 380m² public space outside the Metoděj Vlach Aviation Museum on the southern fringes of the settlement. The installation is intended to strengthen local identity while remembering those who served in the RAF.

The contest jury will include the artist and curator Katarina Magid Hládeková, local deputy mayor Daniel Marek, the curator Kacha Kastner, the architect and theorist Maria Topolčanská and the artist Tomáš Džadoň.

Submissions will be judged on historical relevance, artistic and architectural quality, spatial integration, and potential benefits for public engagement. The competition languages are Czech and English.

The overall winner will receive a £1,800 (CZK 50,000) prize while a second prize of £1,450 (CZK 40,000) and third prize of £1,080 (CZK 30,000) will also be awarded.