<div>offcity_architekti: lecture Blanka Marková</div>

OFFCITY ARCHITECTS
Blanka Marková
Reconversion of industrial brownfields into cultural centers

Wednesday, March 6, 2013, from 19:00 at Divadlo 29 / Sv. Anežky České 29, Pardubice

In the lecture by Blanka Marková, who has worked on development projects in Austria and on the Ostrava candidacy for the title of European Capital of Culture 2015, and specializes in transforming unused buildings into cultural institutions, the Offcity Architects cycle shifts from the topic of peripheries to the announced brownfields and conversions of industrial sites. This theme is very relevant for Pardubice at the moment. The factory complex of Prokop near the city center has been demolished, and the Telegrafie (Tesla) complex may face a similar fate. One of the prominent architectural landmarks of this city is the automatic mills designed by architect Gočár. This building and its complex are now up for sale. We dedicate the majority of this year’s Offcity project to this issue.
 


For a long time, culture was not considered among the factors that were appropriately taken into account in the practice of spatial development. It was only in the 1970s that the close relationship between culture and urban regeneration was recognized, with the new use of culture in the strategies of urban regeneration of post-industrial cities referred to as the “cultural turn.” In post-transformational countries of Central and Eastern Europe, discussions about the usability of culture are not yet mainstream topics, and the issue of the role of culture in urban development is addressed only by a narrow group of professionals primarily from the field of culture. The renewal and utilization of former industrial areas can be an excellent response to the demand for leisure activities not only for local residents. The specific industrial atmosphere does not create barriers in this case; rather, it becomes an additional tourist product. In her lecture, Blanka Marková will present examples of the reconversion of industrial buildings into cultural centers from the Czech Republic and abroad.

Admission: 50 CZK

Organized by the Terra Madoda association in cooperation with Divadlo 29 within the project OFFCITY 2013. This project is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the statutory city of Pardubice, and the Czech Architecture Foundation.

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COMING SOON

OFFCITY ARCHITECTS
MICHAELA PIXOVÁ

Wednesday, April 3, 2012, from 19:00 at Divadlo 29

Michaela Pixová completed her doctoral studies in social geography and regional development at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, during which she focused on the geography of post-socialist cities. She views the city through the theories of Marxist geography and thus primarily engages in the political-economic analysis of the relationships between spatial and social structures. In her dissertation, she focused on spaces for alternative culture in contemporary Prague and on the transformation of their character and status across the changing political-economic context. She also focuses on the concept of the so-called “right to the city,” which highlights the importance of the active role of citizens in influencing urban development and using urban space. This relates to an interest in urban activism and the role of civil society in shaping our cities. She is one of the founders of the Praguewatch association, an online mapping guide to issues of urban planning and development in Prague.