„A city is a living, ever-evolving organism – shaped by its people, buildings, and the way space is organised. Each generation leaves behind its imprint. For the 2025 edition of the festival, we want to draw visitors’ attention not only to the buildings whose value has stood the test of time and earned heritage protection but also to those places and structures that have so far remained somewhat out of the spotlight,” says Lucie Pešl Šilerová, Creative Director of Open House Brno from the Kultura & Management Association.

This year’s theme for the Open House Brno festival will be exploring the legacy for the future, forming a part of a broader 2025 programme of Open House Europe, titled “Future Heritage”. “With the theme Future Heritage, Open House Brno seeks to spark a conversation about the temporal dimension of the word ‘heritage’. Depending on the generation of modern architects in question, “heritage” might refer to buildings from various time periods or architectural styles. The festival will therefore open the doors to significant structures from different eras—interwar buildings, often functionalist in style, post-war structures, frequently brutalist, as well as works of contemporary architecture. We aim to highlight how seemingly fixed concepts such as past, present and future are, in fact, rather fluid in the world of architecture,” says the festival Curator, Šárka Bahounková.

A special spotlight is placed on the work of Bohuslav Fuchs, one of Brno’s most prominent architects. Visitors can explore an exhibition in a tram named after the architect. Tours of Fuchs’ buildings will, of course, be an integral part of the main programme. They will be accompanied by popular programme highlights such as the Constitutional Court, the Observation Tower of Brno Exhibition Centre, and the AZ Tower, as well as new entries like Villa Wittal, the St Kunhuta Pharmacy at the Military Hospital, and the Lužánky swimming stadium.

Brno will also host the Visual Stories exhibition at the Brno City Chief Architect‘s Office. The exhibition showcases the winning works from the 2024 open call for Visual Stories and invites new participants to reflect on this year’s theme through visual storytelling.

We invite all visitors of Open House Brno to participate in the Open Call for Visual Stories—an opportunity to creatively interpret the festival experience and this year’s Open House Europe theme, “Future Heritage”. Submissions can take any visual form, including photography, short film, drawing, or other artistic expressions.

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As part of the Open House Europe 2024 programme, which focuses on accessible and inclusive built environments, Open House Brno aims to highlight the diverse ways in which architecture can foster inclusivity. The festival’s central theme is a curated exploration of inclusion and accessibility, ranging from barrier-free design to the integration of socially excluded urban spaces. Moreover, the festival will offer special tours or assistance for visitors facing various challenges.

“We have dedicated this year’s festival, together with other Open House Europe partner cities, to people who may find using the city complicated. Whether they are fellow citizens with disabilities, the elderly, or perhaps economically disadvantaged groups, they have to overcome barriers that are invisible to other people. Alongside guided tours for people with disabilities, an assistance service is available for selected regular tours. Our aim is to revive the discussion about whether our cities are really for everyone, the available data, and its utilisation in urban planning,” says Lucie Pešl Šilerová, creative director of the Open House Brno 2024.

Highlights of this year’s programme include the DROM Roma Centre, exemplifying the application of modular architecture; the conversion of the Baroque palace into the Jiří Mahen Central Library, the largest public library in Moravia; the Velodrome in Brno, the world’s oldest of its kind; the prefabricated pavilion building of the Lesná Polyclinic; and a distinctive neoclassical villa, now functioning as a logopedic school, complete with a modern extension.

Alongside the festival, an exhibition with a focus on inclusive and accessible spaces, featuring 26 exemplary architectural projects from across Brno, can be visited at St. Anne’s University Hospital.

Some guided tours of the festival have a limited capacity and require prior registration. To register and access full information about the festival, including the list of open locations, the English language programme, and more additional content, visit openhousebrno.cz.

We invite visitors of Open House Brno to participate in the Open Call for Visual Stories. It is an opportunity for everyone to interpret their experiences of the festival and the annual theme of Open House Europe—Accessibility and Inclusion—in any art form they wish—a series of photographs, a short film, a drawing, or any other medium for a visual narrative.

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