Summer School of Architecture Ostrava 2016

We love architecture. Our motivation is to educate young architects and assist the towns and municipalities where the summer schools take place. We are not focused on academic solutions, but on realistic outputs that can be utilized in practice by the local governments. Each school concludes with an exhibition of projects, which are further presented in the media, whether on television or in magazines and newspapers. The results are also published in a book.

The first two events were held as part of the grant project Architecture Outside the Centers. Because they were well received, we decided to continue them.

The summer architecture schools always focus on a current topic with which future architects may encounter in their practice. In Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (2012), we learned the principles of design in a protected landscape area, which is tied to a number of regulations and restrictions. A part of the summer school was to create principles for the development of an entire plot so that they can be followed in the future. In Plasy (2013), we focused on the urbanism of the municipality, which would allow for better utilization of the site of the former Cistercian monastery (a national cultural monument). We chose Kopřivnice (2014) as the venue for the third summer school for its intrinsic connection with the Tatra automobile company: with the reduced production in the 1990s, a large part of the production area ceased to be used and a vast brownfield emerged, which the students worked to revitalize. For the summer school in Litomyšl (2015), we obtained the patronage of four post-revolutionary mayors of Litomyšl: Miroslav Brýdl, Jan Janeček, Michal Kortyš, and Radomil Kašpar. The expert guarantors of the event, Kamil Mrva and Petr Volf, chose the main theme of the possibilities for urban development in Litomyšl following the construction of a bypass, which would diminish the significance of the four-lane thoroughfare through the city.

In all cases, a number of interesting proposals were created, which the local governments plan to use. When building, cities and municipalities must know which direction they want to go: if they know it, they have a chance to get ahead of others. Summer schools can play a positive role with their intensity and inventiveness, as they offer an external perspective that is not burdened by so-called local blindness, where locals take for granted the frozen, often non-functional state of affairs and resign themselves to its correction. Often, it is essentially enough to make small changes for improvements to occur.

The theme of the Summer School of Architecture 2016 will be the proposal for solutions for the urban development of Ostrava as part of the revitalization and new use of the brownfield area between Karolina and Lower Vítkovice. We ask ourselves questions: What would it mean for the center of Ostrava and its inhabitants if both locations were to be connected again in the future? What character should this area have? Who should it be intended for? What role can the Ostravice River play in it?

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Date: from Thursday, September 8 to Saturday, September 17, 2016

Place: Lower Vítkovice

Expert guarantors: Architect Kamil Mrva, journalist Petr Volf

Consultant: Architect Josef Pleskot

Architects - Lecturers: Jakub Fišer, Zdeněk Fránek, Petr Hájek, Jan Hendrych, Karel Janča, Hana Maršíková, Dana Nováková, Jitka Ressová, Svatopluk Sládeček, Petr Stolín, Radim Václavík, Veronika Veselá

The summer school is intended for a maximum of 30 students or graduates of architecture from Czech and Slovak universities. Active participation throughout its duration is a prerequisite. At the end of the summer school, participants will receive a graduation certificate. The Summer School of Architecture 2016 will culminate in a festive opening of student projects, where the developed topic will be presented to representatives of the city, media, and the public.

Registration fee: 5,000 CZK.

Application: Via the registration form at www.akademiearchitektury.cz by July 20, 2016, 2:00 PM or until the capacity of participants in the summer school is filled.

More information: www.akademiearchitektury.cz or on the Facebook page of the Academy of Architecture.

The event is organized by the Academy of Architecture, z.s.