Jury

Michal Sedláček

authorised architect, jury chair

Czech licensed architect and urban planner who served as Brno City Architect until 2022. He also gained professional experience in an international environment, including working at Gehry Architects. Currently he oversees the project for the new Brno central station, including the railway infrastructure project and a connected new city district Trnitá.

Catherine Burd

authorised architect, jury co-chair

British architect working in the field of strategic urban planning, heritage, sustainable development and the creation of high-quality public spaces. She is skilled at evaluating and unlocking opportunities in complex urban projects, and provides independent advice to institutions, charities, developers and local authorities, including as current chair of City of Westminster’s and Oxford’s Design Review Panels and in the past, for the Olympic Quarter.

Paco Bunnik

Chief Urban Designer for the City of Amsterdam’s Department of Urban Planning and Sustainability, an experienced Dutch architect and urban designer. He serves as an architectural and urban design supervisor for major development projects such as the Zuidas Central Business District, urban renewal initiatives in Amsterdam Southeast, and various waterfront regeneration projects, always keeping a strong focus on the social dimensions and responsibilities of serving the city’s agendas.

Gerd Jäger

authorised architect

German architect and educator who taught at ETH Zurich, Windhoek university and Kiel University. He led the State Competition Committee and the Executive Committee of the German Chamber of Architects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. He is the founder of the Berlin office of Baumschlager Eberle, known for its contextual and quality design across both public and private sector.

Peter Gero

expert guarantor for the Capital city of Bratislava

Slovak-German  architect and urbanist working in Germany with many years of experience in the design of buildings and public spaces. He worked for the city of Hamburg for thirty years, twelve of which he spent as director of planning and construction for central urban districts. He was involved in the creation of the HafenCity port district, which inspired Winter Harbour in terms of both the process and the resulting quality of urbanism. He currently works as a consultant to municipal authorities and as a lecturer in urbanism and urban development.

Martin Závracký

authorised architect, expert guarantor for the Public Port company (Verejné prístavy a.s.)

Slovak architect and urbanist  working in Germany, former president of the German Association of Architects (BDA) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with experience in creating complex urban projects and evaluating architectural competitions. For more than 20 years he has led the studio Bastmann + Zavracky GmbH, concentrating on the quality of public space, the relationship between architecture and the city and sustainable development.

Jakub Cigler

authorised architect

Czech architect, founder of Jakub Cigler Architekti studio and author of several significant architectural complexes in the Czech Republic and abroad, with experience working for public clients. As an experienced juror from important competitions, he brings a professional perspective, emphasizing the quality of architectural solutions, context, and the feasibility of designs.

Eva Kail

authorised architect

Austrian urban planner and former gender planning expert of the City of Vienna. She developed its “Fair Shared City” quality approach, focusing on everyday life, target group orientation and inclusive open spaces. She was involved in many urban development projects like Aspern Seestadt and for many years a jury member of the developer competitions. She works as a gender planning adviser and lecturer.

Ondrej Horváth

authorised architect

Slovak architect working in the field of urban planning and public space development. He is the Chief Architect of the City of Trnava, which is the place of an important recent reference masterplanning competition – Stvrt. In his work, he focuses on conceptual solutions in a broader urban and social context.