Open House Brno is the only Czech representative of the Open House Europe project, which aims to popularise architecture across Europe. Photo credit: Vratislav Vozník.
Brno, Mar 3 (BD) – The Open House festival is a Europe-wide project with the goal of introducing the public to high-quality architecture and new ideas. In Brno, this year’s festival is focused on the role of women in the city’s architecture.
Barbora Jenčková is one of the many women who will be showcased as part of the event. She is behind the architectural conversion of the buildings of the former city slaughterhouse, which will be among the buildings open to all on 13-14 May.
The Brno Festival is also the only representative of the Czech Republic in Open House Europe, whose goal is the popularisation of architecture across Europe. The project will bring in CZK 3.5 million to Brno’s culture sector over the next three years.
“In the last 70 years, a number of prominent female creators have contributed to the face of Brno, yet the public does not know much about them and they are often overshadowed by their male colleagues,” explained creative director Lucie Pešl Šilerová from the Culture & Management Association. “This year’s festival is therefore dedicated to the discovery of buildings, interiors and transformations under which women are the signatures. An inseparable topic will also be discussion of the reasons why mainly male creators are signed under the buildings, when the majority of students at the faculties of architecture are women.”
The goals of Open House Europe include encouraging public debate about architecture and strengthening its positive role in urban transformation to address current social and environmental challenges. The official launch of the project was hosted by the project coordinator Architektūros fondas at the National Art Gallery in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Friday, 3 March.
The event will also include an expanded form of the exhibition Architects 60-80, and a key part of the festival is a look at the work during the period of socialism in the reality of the time, but through the lens of the active female creators.
The organisers will again welcome the help of volunteers this year. Thanks to their work and the help of partners, the program can run completely free of charge. Volunteers can register on the festival website.
“Volunteering with the festival offers the opportunity to meet new friends, see non-traditional places and, last but not least, make other people, our visitors, happy,” added Pešl Šilerová.
OHB is part of Open House Worldwide, a network of more than 50 cities around the world hosting architecture festivals for the public. The events reach more than 2 million people around the world every year. Brno has been part of this network since 2018.More information on Open House Brno 2023 can be found on the website, Facebook, and Instagram.
