The Brno Architecture Days will open the doors of normally inaccessible buildings and spaces and tell their story, as well as focusing on the possible uses of green spaces and particular buildings in the Moravian capital. Visitors will be able to step back in time, learn about history and discuss the future of architecture in the city. Photo credits: Michaela Dvořáková
Brno, 2 August (BD) – The Architecture Days will run from 30 September to 6 October. Under the traditional name “Hurá dovnitř!” (Let’s Get Inside!), dozens of normally inaccessible buildings will be open to the public. The programme also includes educational workshops for children and architectural walks for parents with children. Visitors will be able to explore architecture, both known and unknown, on foot, by bicycle or even skateboard, guided by expert commentary.
The motto of the 12th edition of the festival is “Don’t crash, transform!” and the programme will largely focus on the ecological, economic and ethical dimensions of architecture and construction, presenting successful examples of reconstruction and revitalisation projects on various scales. The festival will also commemorate the work of Slovene architect Jože Plečnik and pay tribute to Czech architect Alena Šrámková.
As part of the programme of the Brno Architecture Days, the iconic modernist building known as the White House, built in the 1970s as the City Committee of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, and the House of Political Education, which today houses a polyclinic, will be open to the public. The festival also offers a rare opportunity to visit the 1984 plastic surgery clinic, which stands on the site of the original Navrátil sanatorium in Královo Pole, to see the interior of the current Secondary School of Medicine and the dormitory building designed by architects Bohuslav Fuchs and Josef Polášek on Lipová. The festival also invites visitors to visit the functionalist Church of St Augustine in Kraví Hora, where the liturgical space has recently been redesigned by the architectural firm RAW, which will also present its new project – a residential building on Hybešova.
The programme will also cover the reconstruction of the market hall in Zelný trh, the low-energy office building Otevřená zahrada (Open Garden), which is the result of the successful reconstruction of a house over 100 years old, and the recently renovated building of the Museum of Decorative Arts. Another theme of the Brno programme is urban greenery. This section will focus on the long-awaited revitalisation of the Moravské náměstí park, offer a walk through the most important parks in the centre of Brno, or a walk through Černá Pole, which will present the importance of green spaces for the urban development of Brno during its industrial expansion since the end of the 18th century.
The architectural walks will inform the public about Brno’s history, but also about its near future. The programme offers, for example, a walk dedicated to the past, present and future development around the important site of the main railway station, and the future new Trnitá district. Another walk will wind through the public space in the centre of Brno, with the aim of highlighting the sensitivity of urban planning and showing that even small changes can have a big impact.
Participants in the festival can also take excursions into the surrounding area. One of the trips will take them to Hrušovany u Brna, including a visit to the station restaurant, the factory building and, above all, the villa of the sugar factory director built according to the design of Adolf Loos. The second excursion will be to nearby Tišnov, for a walk through the most important buildings of modernism and functionalism, many of which are connected to some of the important figures of Brno architecture.
For the first time, the organisers have also included in the programme a guided walk in Ukrainian, which will present the main architectural works in the centre of Brno. Parallel to the Architecture Days, the sister festival Film and Architecture is taking place this year for the 10th time. The up-to-date programme can be found at www.denarchitektury.cz.
