The 2023/2024 INSPIRELI AWARDS, the world’s largest student architecture competition, focused on the restoration of Schindler’s Ark — the factory in Brněnec, Czech Republic, where Oskar and Emilie Schindler saved over 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust.
243 students from 28 countries submitted 150 design proposals reimagining the abandoned site. Their work supported the vision behind the newly opened Museum of Survivors, inaugurated in May 2025 as the first step in a long-term revitalization.
The site is one of the few original locations tied directly to Schindler’s rescue mission, immortalized in Schindler’s List. Unlike many memorials built after the war, this project brings life back to the very space where survival was made possible — a place of industrial production turned into an act of humanity.
“The story of the Schindlers is not just history — it’s a living message about moral courage,” said Daniel Löw-Beer, descendant of the original factory owners and initiator of the site’s renewal.
The INSPIRELI AWARDS competition is moving from an online competition to a real-life implementation, and its tenth year is now reaching its climax - students can upload their school projects until 15 June 2025.
More information on www.inspireli.com
