The company Xella announced the 27th edition of the International Student Competition for the academic year 2021/2022

The competition is intended for students (individually or in working groups) from the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering at technical and artistic universities, and the theme of this year's assignment is "INTERVENTION – WHERE TO GO FROM KOPČANY? ESCAPE FROM THE PRESENT TO THE PAST AND VICE VERSA IN THE CZECH-SLOVAK BORDER AREA IN KOPČANY".

PaedDr. Hana Šimánová, who leads the secretariat of the competition for the Czech Republic, stated about the new edition: “The deadline for submitting competition proposals is February 21, 2022; however, each interested participant must first register on the website ytong.cz. The registration deadline is the day before submission, i.e., Sunday, February 20, 2022. Competition materials will be available free of charge to universities on the websites www.ytong.cz and www.ytong.sk or on the websites of individual faculties. Map materials and attachments will be provided to competition participants who fill out the registration form on the website.”    

The goal of the new edition, organized under the motto "Feet in history – head in the present/future," is to support the creative invention of university students through a competitive confrontation of architectural ideas and thoughts. The theme of the assignment also serves as an opportunity to reflect on the needs of regional tourism and an area that breathes the history of Great Moravia and the times of Maria Theresa in the cross-border location of the Archeopark Mikulčice-Kopčany and its surroundings. The challenge is further emphasized by the fact that it is a highly symbolic place where the border between the Czech Republic and Slovakia does not divide but connects.

The assignment continues several years of effort to support regional and cross-border tourism in the context of the strategic development of the Kopčany municipality, presenting history through modern means and aiming to support the connection of landscape potential near the pre-Romanesque church of St. Margaret of Antioch, the oldest church in Slovakia. This church is part of the Great Moravian settlement of Mikulčice-Valy and the Baroque monuments of Žrebčín and Kačenáreň.

The mission of the assignment is to find the optimal achievable and sustainable concept for the gradual transformation and improvement of the historically significant area in the municipality of Kopčany, which has a cross-border reach into

the Czech Republic across the Morava River, which does not separate but connects. The addressed area will maintain its distinctive natural and historical character while providing high-quality facilities in new buildings for regional recreational significance, nature rest, sports activities, and historical exploration, thus becoming an attraction for both Slovak and foreign visitors. The competition projects will highlight the need for the preservation and humanization of the historical cultural landscape and the inappropriateness of developers' efforts to build a multimodal logistics center with a container transshipment terminal on more than 100 hectares between Holíč and Kopčany.

The expert guarantor of the 27th edition of the competition is Assoc. Prof. Ing. arch. Ľubica Selcová, PhD. from the Faculty of Architecture STU in Bratislava, and students' proposals will be evaluated by a jury consisting of Juraj Benetin (SR), Jakub Cigler (CZ), Juraj Hantabal (SR), Miroslav Stach (CZ), Jana Stachová (CZ), Michal Kryštof (CZ), Peter Moravčík (SR), Imrich Pleidel (SR), Peter Richtárik (SR), Jaromír Veselák (CZ), and Ľubomír Závodný (SR). The jury will elect its chairperson at the beginning of the evaluation of the competition proposals.