Interested parties in industrial monuments are focusing on the year 2015

Prague - The platform for the preservation of industrial architecture, Industrial Traces, will become part of the European Year of Industrial Heritage in 2015, a theme recommended by the Council of Europe. Industrial Traces began in 2001 as a biennale, but the interest of both amateurs and professionals has led to it being held annually since last year. Next year will showcase successful conversions of industrial buildings in the Visegrad Four countries. In 2015, it will connect with activities organized in Pilsen as the European Capital of Culture.
    The conversion of one of the industrial monuments, the Světovar brewery, will be one of the main events of Pilsen 2015. During the current year's Industrial Traces, Pilsen already held a week of cultural factories, utilizing the extraordinary potential of industrial sites in Pilsen and the Pilsen region for artistic interventions and cultural events. Itineraries for exploring industrial buildings in the region are being prepared.
    "Fortunately, there is more talk about endangered heritage now than when we started with Industrial Traces. There are also more actions taking place. The recommendation from the Council of Europe is a significant signal of the transformation of societal values. It is certainly important for popularization and education,” said Benjamin Fragner from the Research Center for Industrial Heritage at the Czech Technical University, founder of the Industrial Traces platform. He notes, however, that celebration can always have multiple layers - it honors values that are already acknowledged today, but it is also a "memorial for the fallen."
    Between the individual editions of Industrial Traces, which have always taken place in the autumn, the website www.industrialnistopy.cz serves as an informational and interactive hub, connecting events, news, and interested parties in industrial heritage and industrial architecture.
    The start of the Year of Industrial Heritage will be marked by an exhibition of examples of transformation and new uses of former factories and industrial areas in the Czech Republic up to 2015, complemented by an illustrated publication concluding the series of Industrial Topography. The events planned for 2015 are a challenge for hundreds of associations, industrial monument owners, cities, municipalities, local initiatives, and artistic groups, according to the organizers. They will also be of interest to investors and developers who recognize the values worth protecting and building further development upon, stated the organizers.