Vila Stiassni invites you to an exhibition on the transformation of Brno as an industrial city
The National Heritage Institute, the Methodological Centre of Modern Architecture in Brno and the Methodological Centre of Industrial Heritage in Ostrava, together with the Faculty of Architecture of the Brno University of Technology, have prepared an exhibition dedicated to the changes of Brno over the last three centuries. Experts on industrial buildings and modern architecture together with students mapped the key points of the city's transformation and reflected on the possibilities of preserving and reusing old industrial sites.
Panels with short texts and lesser-known images, large-scale photographs, models, student projects, video and real equipment of textile and machine factories will be on display in the lecture and exhibition building in the Villa Stiassni. The authors Petra Mertová, Michaela Ryšková, Petr Svoboda and Helena Zemánková have mapped the rise of Brno as an industrial city in the 18th and 19th centuries, the most important textile and engineering enterprises, the impulses for the development of modern architecture, as well as war damage, nationalisation and socialist management of enterprises and the period after 1989.
"Urban regeneration always takes place on the borderline between radical decisions and compromises, because the city and its inhabitants are constantly evolving. Today is no exception, with old factories, symbols of a once magnificent industrial city, disappearing before our eyes. A few of them have undergone quality conversion to new uses, but compared to successful examples from abroad, we still have a lot of catching up to do. For example, there is still a lack of a dignified and permanent reminder of the former Moravian Manchester," says Petr Svoboda on behalf of the curatorial team.
The exhibition is also a retrospective showing the results of teaching industrial buildings and their conversions at the Brno School of Architecture. Professor Helena Zemánková has been in charge of the school since the late 1970s - hundreds of students have passed through her studio during that time, some of whom have become leading professionals in the field of industrial buildings.
The organisation of the accompanying programme, which includes lectures and walks through the city, was undertaken by TIC Brno. The series of events will be launched on 24 September with a lecture by Petr Svoboda on the textile factories of the Stiassni family. This will be followed on 26 September by a walk around the Brno Exhibition Centre with Lenka Štěpánková. The full programme can be found here.
The exhibition, which, in addition to student projects for the reuse of factory buildings and premises, also recalls conversions or recent demolitions, will be open to the public during the opening hours of Villa Stiassni until the end of this year. The opening will take place on 12 September 2024 at 5pm.
