After decades of marginalisation and, more recently, years of controversial public debate spurred by misguided political statements, the victims of the Roma holocaust finally have a memorial place in Lety near Písek to pay tribute to their memory. The original site of the Roma concentration camp, which had since been used as a large-capacity pig farm (a baffling decision dating back to the Normalization period), was cleared to allow the planting of an extensive landscape memorial. Winner of an international competition, the design uses a forest—a metaphor for community—as the main compositional element, with time as an important actor in the design. There is no final or finished form, and the memorial represents a changing natural process. The primary commemorative function is complemented by an educational aspect, with an outdoor audio‑visual trail and a visitor centre.

Při příležitosti jubilejního 10. ročníku soutěže Kaplicky Internship, kterou organizuje nadace Bakala Foundation ve spolupráci s Design Museem v Londýně a Nadačním fondem Kaplicky Centre, přicestoval do Prahy architekt, partner Studia Libeskind Yama Karim. Již potřetí je vyhlášení spojeno se soutěžní Přehlídkou diplomových prací a vůbec poprvé se laureátkou obou cen stala jedna studentka – Justýna Kaislerová z pražské Akademie výtvarných umění. Po úvodní přednášce Yamy Karima, která slavnostní večer otevřela, jsme s ním hovořili o žádoucích vlastnostech začínajících architektů a architektek nebo o procesech navrhování ve Studiu Libeskind.

Serious discussions and wild speculations can both be heard regularly on the difference between Czech and Slovak architecture. However, thirty years since the dissolution of the federal republic probably is not enough time to truly register the changes in development, assuming that there actually is something like Czech and Slovak architecture in the first place. Simply put, there are some things happening in our neighbours’ architectural community that we could very well envy, like the new National Gallery building, or the Slovak Prize for Architecture gala being broadcast on primetime TV. On the other hand, there are other things our Slovak colleagues could learn from us.

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton, laureates of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, were recognized for their pioneering work in machine learning using artificial neural networks. The surprising decision (it’s uncommon for the Nobel Prize in Physics to be awarded for achievements in the field of information technology) clearly illustrates our relationship to the development of AI in general: we don’t know how to classify it, we don’t know what to think about it, but we can’t ignore it.