Steven Holl Architects is advancing toward the start of their Terezín Ghetto Museum project in the Czech Republic. The firm was named the winner of an international competition to design an extension of the existing museum in 2022 and will deliver the project on the site, which was first constructed as a citadel in 1780. The Schematic Design phase was completed in March.

Commemorating the lives of an estimated 33,000 Jews that were lost under Nazi occupation in Terezín between 1939 and 1942, the Museum is an important tool in the culture sector’s response to antisemitism and will result in a “hopeful new presence” in a country whose social fabric is seen by some as being strained by hate groups and far-right extremists.

SKUPINA, the 21-year-old studio founded in Prague by Marcela Steinbachová, is included as the co-architect of the scheme. The pair had previously collaborated on a small renovation project for the interiors of the Franz Kafka Society in 2008.

The design centers around a concept of hope and light. A new Tower of Light experiential spectral light space will be added to the program as a symbolic “beacon” that shines in darkness. Holl says this addition is in homage to the drawings of young Terezín artist Petr Ginz, who was later executed in Auschwitz. Other aspects of the project include a renovation of the existing exhibition spaces and grounds. 

"Marcela and I thought that the Space of Light might be a good link between the past and the present. As an international symbol of tragedy and hope. For me, it is fascinating to think that through our project, people will learn not only about Petr’s vision but will also find out that his legacy lives on," Holl said in an interview with Czech outlet Téma shortly after the competition was announced.

A completion date for the project has not been made public at this time. 

Also in the Czech Republic, Steven Holl Architects is currently advancing toward the completion of a new concert hall design in Ostrava. 

Elsewhere in the country, Zaha Hadid Architects has added a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use development with cascading terraces to Prague, and the country's new tallest structure, the 771-foot Ostrava Tower from Chybik + Kristof, is under construction for 2027.