EUROPAN is a prestigious competition of young architects from all Europe, which deals with development areas in individual cities. Its target is to help young architests of the age up to 40 to develop and present innovative ideas.

For the eighth EUROPAN competition, taking part between 2004 and 2006, Pilsen suggested the premises of Urban Transport Company in Cukrovarska Street to be solved. In accordance with specifications of the competition, all participants projected blocks of flats for the Western part of the area and leisure time area for the Eastern part near the Radbuza River. The winning project of a Spanish team (Rafa Mira, Javier Matoses, Javier Molinero, María Oliver, Marcos Sangüesa) designed the blocks of flats in horizontál structure which is not typical for Pilsen. The houses are designed as "green", using natural air circulation and greenery for air refreshment. At the same time, the project suggests the preservation of two existing repair halls for social functions.

In June 2006, the Pilsen City Council decided to continue the co-operation with the winnning team on working out more detailed documentation.

EUROPAN is a European non-governmantal federation organizing architectural - urban competitions. National committee is responsible for the course of the competition in a particular country. EUROPAN CZ became a member of the federation in 1999, by which means Czech architects became immediately integrated in European activities. President of Czech EUROPAN is Milan Hon. EUROPAN 8 CZ runs under the auspices of Ministry for regional development of the Czech Republic.

EUROPAN CZ 8 in data

Aug. 26, 2004: the Pilsen City Council decided on the participation of the City of Pilsen in the international EUROPAN 8 competition (decree No.442)

January 2005: Urban Planning and Development Institute of the City of Pilsen elaborated a presentation documentation of the location and it was handed over to the academic jury of EUROPAN competition residing in Paris. The documentation was made available on the web sites of the competition as an offer for competition teams of all Europe. After paying the handling charge, applicants interested in Pilsen locality were enabled to access a detailed documentation on the web sites of EUROPAN, using the password and code issued by the academic jury. The detailed documentation contained all materials specified by the academic jury necessary for the elaboration of a competition project.

March 07, 2005: official announcement of the competition

March 08, 2005: national announcement of the competition at the press conference in Prague

Sept. 30, 2005: 24 projects for locality treatment were handed over; during the first conference of the national jury, appointed by the national committee of EUROPAN, four projects were chosen to be awarded

Jan. 13 – Jan. 14, 2006: those chosen projects were discussed at the forum of cities and juries in Portugese city of Sintra; representatives of the City of Pilsen took part not just in the debates about the projects, but also in professional discussions about the competition and urban design

Jan. 2006: the national jury assembled to make the final assessment of the projects chosen at the first conference and awarded the first prize to the Spanish team consisting of: Rafa Mira, Javier Matoses, Javier Molinero, María Oliver, Marcos Sangüesa

June 2006 – the Pilsen City Council decided to continue the co-operation with the winnning team on elaborating more detailed documentation

Sept. 19 - 29, 2006: winning projects taking part in the competition (redevelopment of Pilsen locality in Cukrovarska Street) were shown in exhibition space of Vídeňka Cafe