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Maas / Knettig Studio

Our

approach:

(Im)Possible Prague(s)

 
Prague is under pressure.
Its beauty and stability have led to an explosion of people wanting to live here. But the housing stock is incredibly limited, which drives prices up. This makes Prague impossible for many, turning it into a highly elitist city. Tourism floods the streets and fills the city with hotels and Airbnbs, further reducing affordable housing. The shifting economic situation in Europe also demands new perspectives for Prague, as its role continues to accelerate. Where will all these people live?
 
The implementation of climate-proof developments is painfully slow. Sustainable energy is rare, most houses remain uninsulated, and extremes of drought and flooding demand urgent strategies. Streets are blocked by cars, and although Prague has a strong public transport system, decisive action is needed to keep the city accessible. City planning, despite the efforts of IPR, is notoriously slow and often counterproductive. The political situation is polarized, corruption persists, participation is limited, and heritage committees make change almost impossible. Mistrust, suspicion, and blame dominate the process.
 
All of this frustrates inhabitants, investors, and stakeholders. Meanwhile, the shifting geopolitical order, with wars in Ukraine and Israel, may move Europe’s centrality eastward. This puts new emphasis on Prague as a stable and strategic capital, creating an opportunity not to be missed.
 
The Why Factory’s Autumn 2025 studio at ARCHIP is about the future of Prague. It is a call for action.
 
Planning a city is never easy, least of all Prague. Everyone claims to have the solution, every architect has a strong opinion, and ideas are quickly dismissed as impossible under the system. Frustration dominates the community.
 
This puts students under immense pressure. Liberty and courage are stifled, and everything they propose is seen as naïve. Discussion and experimentation die out, undermining the new generation and turning Prague into an impossible monster that squeezes out initiative, joy, and life. It is profoundly counterproductive to research and innovation, and the country pays the price.
 
To escape this trap, the studio takes a wider perspective.
It looks at Prague over a 50-year horizon, allowing us to imagine change. After all, enormous transformations have already taken place in the last 50 years.
 
Secondly, this study places Prague in a broader European context, comparing it with other cities. What if Prague simply became more equal to the best of the others?
 
Together, this opens possibilities for Prague to embrace sustainability, innovation, and growth. Yet for the sake of research, we explore these potentials strictly within the city’s borders.This is done through an intense inventory of spatial options for Prague. From very small, charming, and clever moves no one can oppose, to larger and more radical ones that risk public resistance.
 
All may seem impossible under current reasoning, but by absorbing counterarguments into the proposals, new escapes open up. Negativity is unblocked. Saying yes becomes possible. This method frees students from being labeled naïve or guilty. They are simply making options, leaving the choice open. Now it is up to you.
 

Welcome to Prague 2.0.
Welcome to Possible Prague.


Winy Maas has been leading Architecture and Urban Design Studio since 2024.

Winy Maas, Urban Planner and Landscape Architect, has led MVRDV’s interdisciplinary team as its Founding Partner since its establishment in 1993. Co-founded with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries, the award-winning Dutch practice has achieved international acclaim for a wide variety of buildings, cities, and landscapes that are innovative, experimental, and merge theory with practice. 

Driven by this dedication to green, user-defined, sustainable cities and spaces, Maas’ leadership drives many of the office’s award-winning projects. These include the Dutch Pavilion at Expo 2000 in Hannover, Villa VPRO in Hilversum (1997), WoZoCo in Amsterdam (1997), Rotterdam’s Markthal (2014), Crystal Houses in Amsterdam (2016), the Tianjin Binhai Library (2017), the Glass Farm in Schijndel (2013), Radio Hotel and Tower in New York (2022), Valley in Amsterdam (2022) and the first publicly accessible art depot in the world, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, which opened its doors end of 2021. In Maas’ broad portfolio are also several masterplans, including a vision for the future of Greater Paris, the Left Bank in Bordeaux, and the waterfront of Oslo. Maas also designed and supervised the world horticultural exhibition Floriade 2022 and supervised Eindhoven city centre from 2017 until 2022.

Maas balances practice with academic leadership. Besides his work for MVRDV, he is Professor of Urbanism and Architecture at the Delft University of Technology. In 2008, he developed The Why Factory, a research institute that he leads within TU Delft, which explores possibilities for the development of cities of the future. In 2022, Maas was appointed visiting professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague.

His academic work also includes numerous visiting professorships at internationally notable institutions including the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, Columbia University in New York, the Strelka Institute in Moscow, Hong Kong University, the Rotterdam Building Academy, and the Czech Technical University. 

Besides the many awards MVRDV’s projects have received, in 2015 Maas was appointed to the Order of the Dutch Lion by the Dutch government. In 2011, the Government of France awarded him with the Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur for his work characterised by experimentation, innovation, and sustainability.

“I advocate denser, greener, more attractive and liveable cities, with an approach to design that centres around user-defined, innovative, and sustainable ideas for the built environment, regardless of typology or scale.“ – Winy Maas

www.mvrdv.cz / 

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Šimon Knettig has been teaching AD at ARCHIP since 2025.

Šimon Knettig believes the future of design must move beyond the outdated “human versus nature” frame. He considers us, humans, as part of ecosystems and pursues environments that advance human well-being and natural diversity together. His approach is biophilic and evidence-driven, combining UX research with parametric design, AI generation, virtual reality, and additive manufacturing to deliver holistic sustainability—democratic, measurable, and ecologically resilient.

Educated at FA CTU and TU Delft, Šimon first joined The Why Factory as a student, later becoming a tutor and researcher under Winy Maas, with whom he worked on Biotopia (biophilic futures of cities and the world) and CZ2 (data-driven scenarios and visions for the Czech Republic). He has further extended this collaboration by joining MVRDV professionally on competitions and the ongoing Prague Airport extension, featuring a large-scale exterior and interior façade map that greets visitors and serves as an immersive platform for discussing the future(s) of CZ.

Building on his thesis in UX research for the built environment, he is launching a consultancy that integrates VR, GenAI, and user-centered methods into architectural and urban decision-making—turning research into a service for healthier people and richer biodiversity.
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simon.knettig@archip.eu