Project Description:

Our vision for the renewal of Chotkovy Sady builds on the park’s extraordinary heritage and historical legacy. The proposal draws from its preserved spatial layers, topography, and relationships to the Deer Moat, the Brusnice stream valley, and the broader framework of Prague’s historic parks.

The design respects and strengthens the park’s defining qualities: the organic path structure, silhouettes of mature trees, compositional axes, and panoramic views that shape its romantic character. These elements are carefully reinterpreted through subtle interventions, renewed vegetation, and the reopening of long-lost vistas.

Building on František Thomayer’s original concept, the design evolves his composition with sensitivity to the site’s logic and spirit. The path network is refined to appear more natural, connecting with existing tree lines and topography. Non-historic plantings give way to clearer, more intentional groupings that reinforce Thomayer’s vision and the park’s unique identity.

Key compositional principles are restored and clarified, strengthening the visual axis toward the Queen Anne’s Summer Palace, reestablishing the park’s tripartite structure, and reframing the romantic setting of the Julius Zeyer monument. Reopened viewpoints and new resting areas invite visitors to pause and enjoy the city’s panoramas, while a reintroduced water feature brings life and movement back to the southern slope.

The restoration also adds new layers of use and experience, including improved pedestrian and cycling connections, renewed gathering and resting areas, and a refined family of park elements such as furniture, signage, and lighting. Chotkovy Sady becomes a space for everyday encounters, quiet reflection, and small cultural events, reinforcing its role as a living and evolving part of Prague’s landscape.

A key focus lies in the care and protection of exceptional trees, including oaks, lindens, and plane trees that form the park’s backbone. The vegetation strategy aligns the historical composition with the needs of biodiversity, supporting old-growth habitats, bird and bat nesting, and sensitive management of shrubs and undergrowth.

Inspired by its past and open to the future, the renewal of Chotkovy Sady establishes a lasting foundation for the park’s continued life, creating a place of character, continuity, and stories.