The National Centre for Construction 4.0 will present itself for the second time at the Building Fair and Festival of Architecture, which will take place this year from 24 to 27 April 2024 at the Brno Exhibition Centre. It is organising a construction hackathon on the topic of affordable housing as well as discussions with influencers covering different aspects of the world of construction and housing. Everything will take place in the „university campus“, where Czech technical universities will present their innovations.
The pilot year of the competition platform of the Construction Hackathon on the topic of affordable housing will take place during the first two days of the Festival of Architecture. Six-member teams of university students sent by the Czech technical universities CTU in Prague, ČZU in Prague, ZČU in Pilsen, VŠB-TU Ostrava, VUT in Brno and Mendel University in Brno will measure their strength. The students will present their affordable housing concepts, in which they will consider various material and design solutions, to an expert jury, which will also award the best designs. Each of the teams will be dealing with a specific material, with wood, concrete, brick and modular and combined buildings coming into their own. The results will provide inspiration for cities and municipalities facing affordable housing investments in the near future.
The involvement of major players in the field of construction will also help the results to be useful for practice. The whole event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Regional Development – Minister Ivan Bartoš has also promised his participation – and the Czech Chamber of Authorized Engineers and Technicians in Construction. During the event, the competing teams will be able to consult their designs and ideas with mentors from practice, provided by Autodesk, Vesper Homes, Progess Group, RD Rýmařov, KOMA, Heluz, ASIO and Strabag.
The aim of the Building Hackathon is to promote innovation and the development of sustainable and affordable housing solutions. „The Hackathon aims to give the Czech construction industry the courage to innovate technological approaches and bring new inspiration, for example in the form of community services,“ explains Radoslav Sovják, Director of the National Centre for Construction 4.0, explaining the motivation for the student competition.
The fair will also present a university town consisting of the most interesting things that the technical universities, CTU in Prague, TU in Liberec, VŠB-TU Ostrava, ZČU in Pilsen and VUT in Brno, are currently working on. CTU in Prague will present two projects, „Portable open-hardware load frame for mechanical properties analysis, Thymos“ and the project „Behaviour of wood in fire and possibilities of using nanotechnology for its protection.“
The accompanying programme of the Festival of Architecture 2024 implemented by the National Centre for Construction 4.0 (NCS 4.0) will also include meetings with interesting creators active on social networks. Craftsmen, architects and builders who influence the image of construction in the Czech Republic will discuss together on Thursday and Saturday. You can look forward to Lukáš Janout aka @delniq, Radek Pospíšil aka @_muj_domecek_, Markéta Heralecka aka @holkyvrekonstrukci or @stavimeskoluvzambii students of FSv ČVUT, former students of VUT Brno and their @plasticguyscz, @architekti_budujici_domov, @profimentor_remesel, @favutmemes, @student_staveb, @bud. designer or @blaznivejstavebniurad.
The Building Literacy project, which is a joint project of NCS 4.0 and the Technology Literacy Platform, will also be presented to the general public at the fair. Experienced organisers of educational projects from Technology Literacy have joined forces with experts from the construction industry to bring insights into construction practice, including links to quality housing, green cities and the technologically advanced world, to primary and secondary school students in line with current educational trends. The gold partner of the project is OHLA Primary School, the silver partner is Wienerberger, Swietelsky, STRABAG, Metrostav and the bronze partner is SUDOP Group. Thanks to the involvement of the partners, the lectures will be free for schools and can be booked from September to December 2024.
24 April – 27 April, the National Centre for Construction 4.0 becomes a part of the busy programme of the four-day marathon of construction and architecture in Brno and once again actively acts as a link between science, academia, students, experts and companies with innovative potential and the public sphere.
More information about the programme can be found at https://www.festival-architektury.cz/program.
