Karolína Kripnerová: Does my architecture have something to say about homelessness?

The lecture series Human Dimension of Architecture continues on Wednesday, April 17, 2019, in the Plzeň University café Družba with the second part featuring architect Karolína Kripnerová. A graduate and current PhD student at the Czech Technical University in Prague, she has long been interested in the social implications of her field. This is also why she became a founding member of the organization Architects Without Borders two years ago, which brings together young female and male architects interested in public space and the social dimension of architecture.

Karolína Kripnerová is convinced that the profession of an architect, who co-creates the environment for human life and society, significantly influences its quality and carries social responsibility. In her lecture, she will present theoretical theses that connect seemingly unconnected areas of architecture and homelessness and attempt to answer the question of what role architects can play in addressing the societal issues associated with homelessness. She will also introduce the non-profit organization Architects Without Borders and its projects helping disadvantaged people, improving neglected places, and strengthening interpersonal relationships.

Admission to the event is 50 CZK. The next installment of the Human Dimension of Architecture series will take place on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at 6 PM at the Papírna Cultural Center in Plzeň. During a lecture titled MAK! – Mobile Architectural Office, representatives of the eponymous studio will present their work from recent years, often in the form of community interventions in public space.

The cycle is organized by the association Pěstuj prostor with the support of the city of Plzeň, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, and the Czech Architecture Foundation. It aims to support and develop the interest of the local professional and broader public in architecture and the built and landscape environment of the city.

Updated information is available in the Facebook event.

Ing. arch. Karolína Kripnerová completed her studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in 2015 with a diploma project for a shelter for mothers with children. She spent a year at RWTH Aachen, studying in Mirko Bauma's studio, and has had several study and work internships, for example, with SchnetzerPils in Vienna. She was a member of the CTU team in the Solar Decathlon competition. She focuses on the topic of homelessness and architecture, both in her doctoral studies and in her free time. In 2017, she co-founded, along with Ing. arch. Vojtěch Sigmund, the non-profit organization Architects Without Borders, which brings together young architects and designers interested in public space and the social implications of architecture. The association engages in both theoretical activities, publishing and organizing, for example, the lecture series Borders of Architecture; and practical activities. Among the most significant accomplishments of the association is the Orientation System in the underpasses at Vltavská.

Source: Ing. arch. KAROLÍNA KRIPNEROVÁ, Faculty of Architecture CTU in Prague, https://www.fa.cvut.cz/cs/fakulta/lide/638-karolina-kripnerova, retrieved March 16, 2019.
Photo: Russ Allison Loar, homeless tents in Los Angeles, 2018, CC-BY-SA-4.0