The Horácká Multipurpose Arena in Jihlava unfolds into four distinct buildings, two of which already exist. Located on the border of Jihlava’s historical center, the arena—a structure usually confined to the periphery of cities—is adjacent to a park and university and places itself in the continuity of these two spaces. Rather than marking an interruption in the existing city structure, the arena serves as a transparent and fluid transition between seemingly distinct spaces, thereby reviving and opening up the area to new functions, and ultimately extending the city center beyond its strict historical bounds. The peaks of the façade segments visually reference both the Gothic verticality of the historic center and the red hedgehog symbol from the city’s coat of arms. On the roof rests an outdoor track, further enriching the building’s sports functionality and inviting audiences to look upon the surrounding views of the city.

A former isolated cottage in the forests of Krušné hory was radically reconstructed to serve as a base for summer camps and as contemporary family mountain accommodation. The complex consists of a new recreational dwelling, a connecting covered terrace, and the renovated original building, which now contains three family apartments and a common space on the ground floor. White serves as the unifying element throughout. The old house received a durable steel roof that extends over the wooden roof covering the slope and transitions into the exposed bright white steel façade of the new building. Its tectonic expression is intensified by unusually narrow custom- -made steel panels and repeated standing seams. The buildings are set on a base of local Krušné hory stone – remnants of the past.

The projects and texts featured in this second issue of the year can be read within the broader framework of contemporary theoretical debates that challenge the prevailing expansionist model of architectural production. Following critical positions formulated, among others, by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes, architecture here no longer appears as a discipline of growth, but rather as a practice of reorganizing what already exists. This shift represents not only a methodological change, but also a transformation of the discipline’s epistemological foundation itself, in which notions of novelty are gradually replaced by concepts of transformation, adaptation, and circulation.

When we began exploring the topic of new materials in contemporary construction, we found an almost endless spectrum of possibilities. Some technologies have already become relatively common—like glued or cross-laminated timber and 3D-printed concrete—while others remain experimental, such as the application of biotechnology in the development of new composites, or materials and structures shaped by living organisms, including mycelium, microphytes, or even higher organisms like the silkworm.

On the edge of Horní Jirčany, a new complex of buildings embodies a bold vision—to combine a retirement home with a kindergarten. The most challenging aspect of the design was fitting the required capacities on the site, while still maintaining a relatively small scale in keeping with the surrounding development. The complex is divided into three main volumes: two serve as assisted living apartments, and one houses the kindergarten. The apartment buildings, connected by a glazed corridor topped with a green roof, form an acoustic barrier shielding an inner garden, which serves as a shared outdoor space for both facilities. The apartment buildings are divided into smaller formal units with individual roofs that help reduce their overall scale. The kindergarten, containing a single classroom and a small community room, is placed close to a nearby forest and follows the same architectural language established by the retirement home.