The design of the orphanage in Congo was created during the fifth Project Marathon organized by the International Center for World Development (ICWD). The student team composed of Jirka Petrželka, Anita Černá and Tomáš Roletzki led by Dr. Jan Tilinger and assisted by Petr Čanda together with representatives of the organization Our Children in Congo created an elaborate study and technical solution for the orphanage during the weekend. In the spring, the project was also successful in the 43rd edition of the prestigious World Architecture Award. The design can be viewed here: https://eurasian-prize.com/public-voting/entry/48
International competition judge Carole Baijing, a famous Dutch designer, commented on the student team's current success: 'An excellent example of a project that is very well thought out, sustainable, human-loving, social, educational, nature-oriented, and can be done at a reasonable price! Well done!"
Hong Kong architect Rocco Yim adds, "A simple design, architecturally conservative, yet carefully thought out details and practicalities. This deserves recognition."
The Eurasian Prize/Architecture jury included award-winning Indian architect Brinda Somaya, who praised the project for its sophisticated design, appropriately described through text, drawings and detailed renderings. "The design details show the clarity of the idea and plan to realize this vision. The project also sends a message about sustainable architecture and the need for it in developing countries."
Project marathons are organised twice a year by ICWD, an educational platform focused on solving global and local development problems with an emphasis on their technical aspects. The next one will be held on 15-17 September 2023 and will loosely follow the Development September Summer School (11-15 September), which focuses on foreign development projects. Students and the interested public can thus combine their participation in both events and after the summer school they can try out their skills in practice at the Project Marathon.
Project marathons are creative-technical hackathons that focus on designing technical solutions for developing areas of the world. At the Project Marathon, projects were created for Praga Haiti, Czech Hospital in Pakistan, Namaste Nepal, Our Children in Congo and Humanitas Africa in Ghana. Project Marathon participants gain valuable experience in creating a project for climatically and culturally different conditions, and the participating organization receives a finished project. The next Project Marathon in mid-September will focus on finding a suitable solution to ensure thermal comfort even in winter for a primary school in Dharamsala (North India). Anyone who is interested in development projects and would like to experience the development of a project in practice under expert guidance can participate in the preparation of a solution. Participants can register here and those interested can combine their participation with the previous Development September.
The project marathon is preceded by Development September 2023 (11-15 September 2023), the fourth edition of the week-long summer school, which will be filled with lectures, workshops and practical examples of successful development and humanitarian projects. Anyone from the student body or the general public can attend, and participants can register at http://icwd.cvut.cz/rozvojove-zari-2023/
The International Center for World Development (ICWD) is a multidisciplinary platform for promoting education and interdisciplinary cooperation in the field of international development projects. The main objective of the Centre is to improve the quality of international development projects carried out by Czech organisations abroad and to link the cooperation of experts from different disciplines.
The Centre offers opportunities for education of students and professionals in the field of development cooperation and non-traditional technologies, and the related expansion of their employment opportunities. It creates a basic awareness of working in the context of other cultures and environments, and of issues related to development and humanitarian projects. The Centre provides advice on the implementation of international development projects and facilitates cooperation between professionals, teachers and students from different disciplines. The Centre initiates cooperation with other inter-university development studies programmes and develops other activities that will lead to a wider awareness of development activities. The aim is to promote interdisciplinary collaboration to enhance the quality of projects. In the long term, the Centre aims to create a degree programme focusing on the technical aspects of development projects (development engineering). Currently, the Centre is involved in the implementation of a high school project in Kashitu, Zambia: https://www.kashituschool.org/
Photos, visualizations and flyers for the upcoming events can be downloaded here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2HzWn9bXCdANMoY88
The Global Education project at CTU was supported by a grant from the Czech Development Agency using the funds of the Czech Foreign Development Cooperation.