Despite the pandemic and limited teaching at universities, this year's INSPIRELI AWARDS competition saw record interest from competitors. "Compared to last year, 298 more competitors applied than last year, while the number of projects raised by 418. The number of participating states also increased by twenty, with the addition of Iceland, for example. Traditionally, most projects came from Asian countries," as Ing. Karel Smejkal from the Department of Architecture of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, who is one of the founders of the competition and also organizes it on it´s behalf, sums up the response for this year's INSPIRELI AWARDS. He adds that limited teaching has most affected the involvement of high school students, who have been able to enter the competition for the first time this year, with projects designed in Lumion software. "For high school students, we expect more guidance from teachers, so it was more challenging. Even so, seventy works came in, "says Karel Smejkal.
Karel Smejkal sees freedom in the assignment behind the huge interest in the INSPIRELI AWARDS, which is today the world's largest architectural student competition. "Basically, students are not bound by anything and can fully show their talent in a project of their choice." The opposite is the INSPIRELI COMPETITION category, which is always listed for a specific project. In the case of the amphitheater in Burkina Faso, the students' task was to design the reconstruction of the space so that the whole theater would be restored to its fame and use. One of the decision criteria here was the feasibility of the entire project.
A total of 6 works from the Czech Republic reached the finals. From the Faculty of Civil Engineering, these were designs by Jakub Vašek and Kristýna Klůsová in the Architecture category. Jakub Vašek and the Museum of Totalitarian Regimes in Prague impressed the jury with his timelessness, simple but modern composition and atmosphere. "Of course, I am pleased with the success of our students in the great international competition. I am also pleased that our faculty is the main co-organizer of this attractive competition, "says Prof. Mikuláš Hulec, head of the Department of Architecture at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, where both finalists study the Architecture and Civil Engineering program.
The finalists in all categories were decided by a two-phase selection, in which almost 500 architects from 97 countries took part. Each project was judged by a number of criteria. "It should be professionally processed, extensive in content and sufficiently understandable. There should be no obvious shortcomings and errors in it, and its description should make sense in the context of the proposed solution both in terms of content and in terms of design, "describes Karel Smejkal. He adds: “We were pleased that the quality of the processing of individual projects is constantly increasing. Students are not afraid to express their design by using elaborate videos, which will certainly dominate in the future. "
The INSPIRELI AWARDS competition was founded in 2015 by designer prof. Bořek Šípek together with Ing. Karel Smejkal. The announcer of INSPIRELI AWARDS is Inspireli, an international online platform for architects, the co-organizers are the Czech Technical University in Prague and the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, the competition is sponsored by a number of major organizations from around the world. Commercial partners also take part in the competition - the LEGO company dedicates the winner with a unique model of his own design, the Czech representative of the LUMION brand will award the best university student and the best participant from secondary schools in his own category of the LUMION INSPIRELI PRIZE competition. Participation in the competition is free, so it is open to creators who would not be able to do so due to economic barriers. Vítězové soutěže budou slavnostně vyhlášeni 15. října, vzhledem k pandemii bude vyhlašování probíhat online.
The winners of the competition will be officially announced on 15 October, due to the pandemic, the announcement will take place online.
More info can be found at: www.inspireliawards.com
