Anna Maresova Designers to design new cars for Petrin funicular
DPP plans to tender the contract for the delivery of the new cars later this year.
The Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) announced the winner of the design competition for new cars for the Petrin funicular. First place went to Anna Maresova Designers, a studio known for the T3 Coupe sightseeing tram project. DPP intends to tender the purchase of new vehicles by the end of the year, and the winning design proposal will be part of the documentation. The first passengers could ride the modernized Petrin funicular in late 2024.
Second place in the competition went to a joint design by Austrian studios Spirit Design, Doellmann Design, and Architektur ZT. Third place went to Aufeer Design of Matador Group, Czech Republic. Fourth place went to the Munich-based design studio N+P Innovation Design.
Funky design
The new Petrin funicular will have a playful detail. Its two cars will partially change color as they pass each other on the track. This can be seen in the winning design visualization. Anna Maresova Designers made the upward moving car “wink” at the downward moving car which turns red as if blushing.
The international design competition was launched by DPP in October last year. A total of 26 teams had applied with their references and portfolios, 10 of them from abroad. The finalists had the task of designing the body and interior of the new cars for the Petrin funicular.
The original competition had to be canceled in the final stages as one of the two finalists did not submit a design. DPP opened the competition in July 2022 again, with new organizers and jury, but under the same conditions. Four finalists from the first competition were also solicited. The winner and all other finalists are entitled to prize money of CZK 500,000.
Edited and translated by Lucie Trávníčková.