<h1>bread spring 2019: Belgian inspiration</h1>

Upcycling of construction materials, architectural laboratories, innovation, and sustainability. What does current progressive architecture look like?
The development of proprietary building materials, an emphasis on minimal waste, thoughtful use of space, and the activation of building users. Contemporary progressive architecture transcends the field of construction and focuses, among other things, on the social, cultural, and ecological areas. Architects who deviate from the classical approach to architecture will be invited to Prague throughout the year by the KRUH association. The focus will be on Flemish and Walloon studios.
Contemporary quality architecture is gaining new attributes. Simplicity, minimal ecological impact, and the activation of building users are more significant than ostentation and the necessity of a world-famous name. An inspiring example for the Czech Republic can be found in Belgium. “It is undoubtedly inspiring for the Czech environment that quality architecture in Belgium is distributed across regions. It does not concentrate only in cities, but we also find it in villages and small towns throughout the country. Belgium is connected with a number of actively engaged smaller offices that are grounded in history and context, rather than with star names and large firms. This approach aligns more closely with the contemporary approach to architecture,” says Marcela Steinbachová, the founder of KRUH, regarding the theme of the 19th annual lecture series.
Belgian architectural inspiration will be presented in a series of 7 lecture evenings featuring 11 studios from Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels. Local architecture is confident, inspiring, and thoroughly contemporary, while being clearly rooted in a specific space and respecting the given cultural environment. Local smaller studios can respond more quickly to current situations not only in construction but in society in general. The demand for sustainability and the reduction of waste was, for example, the impetus for the establishment of the studio BC architects, which will present in Prague in April. The studio, filled with young architects, is dedicated to the upcycling of building materials just a few years after finishing their studies. From rubble or unnecessary waste, they create entirely new materials. Alongside extensive materials research, they apply innovative construction processes in their projects from Belgium to Morocco to Ethiopia.
Sustainability is not only about the development and emergence of new methods and materials, but also about the use and conversion of existing buildings that have ceased to serve their original purpose. A prime example can be found in Brussels, where former Citroën garages are being transformed into a new multifunctional cultural space called KANAL, which is under the auspices of the Parisian museum Centre Pompidou. With an area of 35,000 m2, it is the largest cultural space in Brussels, and here too lies an architectural challenge preceded by an international competition. The winner was a collaboration of three studios: noAarchitecten (Belgium), EM2N (Switzerland), and Sergison Bates architects (United Kingdom). It is precisely noAarchitecten who will visit Prague in April. “International competitions with expert and independent juries confirm society's relationship with its environment. A similar project of the transformation of an industrial complex in Budapest – a new transport museum – has now also been announced with a well-attended international competition, which will involve eleven renowned studios from around the world that focus on cultural buildings. Unfortunately, such practices are not commonplace in the Czech environment. Just recall the Pragovka complex in Vysočany, which is comparable to the mentioned Brussels or Budapest; it was commissioned as a direct contract without a competition. An environment that does not offer the opportunity to select the best from the context of the global, European, or at least the Czech architectural scene does not provide the chance for competition, comparison, or debate, and does not lead to the best results, which would create the best environment for society and also attractively shape buildings,” says architect Marcela Steinbachová.
The goal of the lectures organized by the KRUH association is to convey foreign experiences to the Czech audience and demonstrate that quality contemporary architecture can arise in a small country and express itself without unnecessary ostentation. Belgium is very close to the Czech Republic in this regard, which is why KRUH presents it as an inspiring example.
The lectures will take place from March to June and from October to December at the Centre for Architecture and Urban Planning (CAMP) or the Světozor cinema in Prague. The lectures will be in English, with selected ones translated into Czech. The entrance fee is 100 CZK for students and 120 CZK for adults.
The first lecture will take place on Thursday, March 7, at CAMP in Prague. The experimental studio Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, whose work significantly overlaps with art, will present. Their installations in public spaces provoke visitors to engage and achieve new meanings through interaction with them. The lecture will be complemented by the MSA studio, which focuses on public space design, urban development, and social housing.

Expected invited architects and theorists in spring 2019:
Thu 7. 3. 2019, 19:30 CAMP – IPR Prague MSA + Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
Thu 4. 4. 2019, 19:30 CAMP – IPR Prague NoAarchitecten + BC architects
Thu 9. 5. 2019, 19:30 cinema Světozor Robbrecht en Daem architecten
Thu 6. 6. 2019, 19:30 CAMP – IPR Prague Xavier de Geyter + Nu architectuuratelier

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