Our class Systemic thinking and design was enriching in many aspects. Especially thanks to the connection between KISK at the Faculty of Arts MUNI and the Faculty of Architecture of BUT. Studying with people from different backgrounds and even different faculties brings up various interesting conversations and explorations of different approaches. This conversation sparked our interest in going to the Museum of Applied Arts MAK in Vienna, which is also famous for its focus on Modern design and contemporary arts.

We arrived in Vienna on a sunny November day. The sympathetic guide walked us through their exhibition, focused on various modern and environmental materials, and parted with future-oriented design. Our main focus was a workshop focused on future cities, we divided into groups focused on different aspects of urban life: electricity, social life, homes, transport, work and we tried to imagine and ideal future how these parts could work together. We also discussed different urban concepts like a 15-minute, underground, or linear city. It was a playful activity that sparked a lot of interesting conversations.

NOvá Cvernovka and Bratislava

Community curatorship is of great value because it connects university students with professionals who choose this class as their lifelong learning module. After some time, where we discovered and brainstormed how we viewed the community in separate groups. We met for one weekend in our school and learned about important aspects of communities together. This diverse group brought so many interesting discussions, and we shared diverse experiences with each other. We also learned where people came from, and Anna told us about the creative hub in Bratislava, Nová Cvernovka.

One month later, we decided to visit her. This space intrigued us so much because of its size, unique concept, and use of community principles in real life. Nová Cvernovka is a big creative center and home of many artists, studios, and projects. In its public part, you can find a great bar, canteen, coffee shop, bookstore, and design clothing and art shops. We saw a few ateliers, public spaces, a kindergarten and school set in the second building, and social living created from old dorms. This place charmed us, and I could imagine working or living there in the future (even though Slovak cultural politics keeps me away from it).

We decided that this place would be perfect for our Winter school, so we decided to organize with my colleagues from the Community curatorship class. You can read about our winter school in one of my following articles.