The task of the competition was not the actual design of the entire building (this was done by the partners of the developers, the Dutch company AM Multi, the T + T Design bureau from Gouda), but the solution of the facade and its connections with the internal structure of the center. The former Dresden Central Department Store, now standing on the site of the future store, will be demolished, because its current owners, the Karstadt company, found it too dilapidated and not suitable for reconstruction.
At the same time, it is a striking monument of the so-called "Ost-modernism", that is, the architecture of the GDR of the late 1950s - early 1980s, and together with the nearby restaurant "Internationale", also subject to demolition, they constituted a characteristic ensemble that defined the appearance of Prager Strasse.
In his project, Peter Kulka tried to save at least part of the building: the characteristic “honeycomb” of the old façade will be reinforced on the new building, so this cladding will be reused.
It should be noted that Kulka himself, together with architects Gunther Benisch, Carlo Weber and other members of the Saxon Academy of Arts, addressed an open letter to the Dresden authorities in April this year, trying to draw their attention to the destruction of an important monument for reasons of commercial benefit. This event did not yield any results.
The second and third places in the competition were taken, respectively, by the Dutch workshop "de Architekten Cie." and the German bureau "Allmann Sattler Wappner" with outwardly attractive projects.
A special award was given to the project of Rem Koolhaas' workshop "OMA", the main part of the solution of which was to preserve the building of the department store in full and add three more floors to it. This is not surprising: Koolhaas is known for his interest in the post-war architecture of the Eastern Bloc. But representatives of "AM Multi" called this option "unrealizable".