The weekend will belong to architecture and its creators

Prague - The Architecture Day will offer an immediate encounter with architecture, its creators, theorists, fans, and critics, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday in fifty Czech cities and towns. “The goal of the event, which is held on the occasion of the International Day of Architecture, is mainly to stimulate public interest in the place they live,” said Marcela Steinbachová, the founder of the festival.
    This year’s program offers walks, rides, excursions, discussions, workshops, and film screenings. In Prague, Plzeň, Brno, and Lomnice nad Popelkou, the organizers have prepared excursions to otherwise inaccessible interiors - titled Hurá dovnitř. Part of the program will also follow the traces of industrial heritage, for example in Bystřice pod Hostýnem, Jeseník, or Ústí nad Labem. Cyclists will not be left out either - in Prague they can follow the route of the Blanka tunnel, in Jablonec they can explore artworks from the second half of the 20th century, and in Roztoky near Prague, they can see family houses. All walks and excursions are free.
    “A quarter of a century has passed since the times of totality, but we have sought a freer and more responsible relationship with public space for a long time. It is only in recent years that we are beginning to understand that its form and life depend primarily on us. We are witnessing an almost explosive interest in the urban environment, public space, local activism, neighborhoods, in short, life in the streets,” say the festival organizers.
    Bottom-up urbanism, the transformation of the city into a better place to live, initiated or directly realized by the residents themselves, resonates not only domestically but was also one of the themes of this year's architecture biennale in Venice.
    The Architecture Day is organized by the civic association Kruh, which has focused on public events and lectures on current issues in architecture since 2001. The aim of the lectures and discussions is to mediate dialogue about quality Czech and world architecture and architectural creation to the general public. The festival program is available at www.denarchitektury.cz.