Meeting with the group, starting with a guided tour and getting to know the city
In the morning of our first day we met directly at the Exhibition Centre and started our tour with Ing. Arch. Lenka Štěpánková after organising ourselvs a little.
Exhibition Centre
From a traditional trade fair centre to a multifunctional city hall
Brno Exhibition Centre exists since 1928. Over the time it got extended a few times so that today it has 15 halls and can offer space for up to 30 ooo visitors.
From the rooftop of the entrance building one has a good view over the areal and can see the different buildings. We explored only a few of them, nevertheless it was quite impressive.
Especially overwhelming is the main hall wich is a listed historical building. Originally it had no heating system so it only was used during summer. During a modernisation process in the 80s heating, electricity and a gallery were added. However there are some difficulties with that: the costs for heating it a single day are around 8000€ and because of the many windows, the building is also not suitable for many modern exhibitions. Therefore the future of this magnificant building is uncertain.
Hall Z is the only building that made some profit for the centre during the pandemic. It could be used as storage space for the booming online services of furniture companies. When we visited the centre, we could see it empty and hear the special feature of the building: the echo. It only fades away when the space is filled with visitors, otherwise you can hear the strong echo. The roof was built in a traditional style in the 1950s without the use of computers. So it had to be built on the ground and then raised.
Masterplan Brno City
After our tour through the centre we had a short and informative lecture about the new Municipality Masterplan of the city. It took 20 years to finish the plan but more about this later.
After 20 years the plan is finished and should serve as a guideline for further development
Brno is a growinig city- starting with a small medieval town it has gradually grown together with villages surrounding it. 29 of them were added to the administration of the city in 1850. In 1919 a similar process took place wich led to 2nd Great Brno. Today a third process is in consideration.
The city is characterised by an industrial belt in the south with old factories as well as an excelent train network. While most railway lines in the Czech Republic tend to connect only West and East, Brno also has a good connection with the South, especially Vienna. The Masterplan suggests some further developements. For example a ring in the city center.
One big project is the relocation of the train station. This has been an issue of discussion for 100 years now. Supporters argue that the old station has reached the limits of its capacity and want a new and thriving hub and devopement area around the new station. Others however fear that the establishment of a new hub will take too long and fail. We will see how and when this matter will be decided.
Appart from these issues the plan suggests development zones within the city and new residential areas where brown fields used to be. There was a long discussion about moving a highway further away from the city. And the establishment of an underground system, which is a topic since the 80s but never have been realised.
As you can see the plan had to deal with a lot of different topics. The problem is that it should be a guideline on a general level, but also has to be flexible and adapt to upcoming topics and give information on a very detailed level. So it is only logical that the developement of Municipality Masterplan took that long.
If you want to learn more about the Masterplan and Brno City klick the link below!