The 14th edition of the nationwide Architecture Day festival will once again offer hundreds of events in over 120 towns and cities across the Czech Republic and Slovakia. From Friday, September 27, to Thursday, October 3, 2024, the festival’s packed program will explore forgotten and overlooked places, or present well-known buildings from new perspectives. This year’s festival motto, “The Process of Transformation,” also commemorates the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death. The festival will not only highlight buildings associated with Kafka but also invite visitors to places with a Kafkaesque atmosphere or those related to literature.
Another section of the program will be dedicated to the works of architects Josef Fanta, František Maxmilián Kaňka, and Karel Hubáček, whose anniversaries are being commemorated this year, as well as the SIAL association. The program will also feature the latest buildings and inspiring renovations. Another focus of this year’s festival is landscape architecture. In a diverse mosaic of events, visitors can choose from tours of normally inaccessible buildings, architectural walks with expert commentary, cycling trips, lectures, as well as theater performances, concerts, and many other activities.
The Architecture Day festival will once again run concurrently with the Film and Architecture festival this year. Both festivals are organized by the Kruh association. The program is traditionally free, though some events require prior registration, and some accompanying programs may have a fee. The events of the Architecture Day festival are carried out in cooperation with local associations and architects. More information will be gradually released on www.denarchitektury.cz.
Architecture Day annually offers a wide range of topics. “Our goal is to offer carefully selected events to visitors of all ages, where they can discover often overlooked places or perceive architecture in a broader context, always with expert commentary. We also aim to highlight the importance of public space and landscape architecture related to climate change,” says Marcela Steinbachová, Director of Architecture Day and founder of the Kruh association. The program regularly reflects the anniversaries of prominent figures in the field of architecture and significant buildings. This year, for the first time, the festival will link architecture and literature, thanks to the significant milestone of the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death (1883–1924). The personality and work of the writer, considered one of the most influential literary figures of the 20th century, inspire the curation and program composition of the main section. The subtitle of this year’s festival, “The Process of Transformation,” derives from the titles of Kafka’s books, taking on various meanings in the context of architecture, urban development, and public space. The festival lineup includes, for example, a walk in the footsteps of Franz Kafka not only in Prague but also in Mariánské Lázně, a visit to Špindlerův Mlýn, where Kafka began writing The Castle, or a walk tracing the steps of Milena Jesenská in Prague. Other events will take visitors to places with a Kafkaesque atmosphere, such as the unique 1936 card catalog machine room in the functionalist building of the Czech Social Security Administration in Prague, the bureaucratic complex of the Directorate of Construction in Pardubice, or walks on the outskirts of Brno or through expressionist architecture in Opava. The program also includes various literature-related events, such as tours of the usually inaccessible spaces of Prague’s Klementinum, walks in Znojmo with writer Petr Šesták, or around Smíchov Station and its surroundings with poet and prose writer Petr Borkovec. The festival will also focus on German and Jewish architects, Kafka’s contemporaries, who influenced the current appearance of Czech cities, just as Kafka influenced Czech literature and culture, not only in Prague but also in other cities across the Czech Republic.
Another prominent program line is the architecture of one of the most respected Czechoslovak architects, Karel Hubáček (1924–2011), whose 100th birth anniversary is being commemorated this year. In addition to his iconic TV tower and hotel on Ještěd, the festival will also highlight his other works, such as the Máj cinema in Doksy, the Little Theater and prefabricated family house in Liberec, or the cultural center in Teplice. Attention will also be given to his collaborators in the Association of Engineers and Architects in Liberec (SIAL), with festival activities leading, for example, to Česká Lípa to visit the Uran department store by Emil Přikryl or the Crystal cultural center by Jiří Suchomel. In Brno and Liberec, a film produced by Paměť národa, Lighthouse Karel Hubáček, will also be screened.
Another personality to be commemorated by Architecture Day is Josef Fanta (1856–1954), whose 70th death anniversary is this year. Along with the historic building of Prague’s main railway station, the program includes a tour of the Ondřejov Observatory or a guided walk through his villas in Poděbrady. Architecture Day will also celebrate the work of the significant late Baroque builder and architect František Maxmilián Kaňka (1674–1766), who was born 350 years ago. The festival map includes Jemniště, Karlova Koruna, Krásný Dvůr, or Loučeň castles, as well as the Church of St. John of Nepomuk in Kutná Hora and the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Roudnice nad Labem.
Links:
Website: www.denarchitektury.cz
Facebook: www.facebook.com/den.architektury/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/den.architektury/
Organized by: Kruh, z.s.
Under the auspices of: The Czech Chamber of Architects, The Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic
Financial support: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, City of Prague, Statutory City of Brno, The Czech Architecture Foundation, The Czech Chamber of Architects, Prague 5, Prague 7, Prague 10
Main partner: KOMA MODULAR s. r. o.
Partners: National Library of the Czech Republic, Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, Center for Architecture and Metropolitan Planning
Media contact:
Silvie Marková
SMART Communication
M: +420 604 748 699
E: markova@s-m-art.com
