Hello Wood’s Builder Festival Returns 6-15 July

• Daniel Swartz • 2023. March 20.

The Hello Wood Builder Summit is now open to applications for students and aspiring team leaders from around the world.

After a three-year hiatus, the extraordinary summer school is back. The Builder Summit, Hello Wood’s greatest-ever event, is organised with the support of the Veszprém-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture and will be held in a post-apocalyptic basalt quarry in Hungary from July 6 to 15. The summer school will host more than 200 participants and later expects more than 1000 visitors at the closing music festival. The organisers are also happy to announce that it will be joined by international design superstars Karim Rashid, and Arthur Mamou-Mani who is well-known for his iconic structures designed for several Burning Man events.

The Hello Wood-Builder Summit is a summer school and festival that goes beyond traditional summer camps. It will be a unique community experience, inviting people to master the ‘thinking through making’ philosophy, as well as create and socialize together.

This year's event will examine the connections between intervention and naturalness, demolition and construction, and absence and replenishment, in order to reflect on the ecological circumstances of the region and call attention to the relationship between human-environment-future.

The concept is a reflection on the site of the festival - an abandoned quarry on Haláp Mountain. The wounded landscape points out an exciting contradiction: the production of building materials inevitably involves demolition. Since our daily lives are fundamentally reinterpreted by pandemics, wars, economic crises and global warming, the issue of demolition and reconstruction is not only relevant from an architectural point of view, but from a social one as well

says Dávid Ráday, Co-founder of Hello Wood.

Students and future team leaders are now welcome to apply to the Hello Wood Builder Summit. Prospective team leaders are encouraged to propose provocative ideas that address contemporary issues while also reflecting on the festival's primary topics. Wooden installations, land art initiatives, as well as virtual and augmented reality projects are all welcome. The team leader application deadline is April 9. Further details on how to apply are available in the Open Call.

At the same time, students of architecture, landscape architecture, design or art can apply by filling out the registration form and submitting their personal portfolio and a motivational letter. Student participants should also purchase tickets (costing 450 euros in the early bird period) which will cover accommodation, 3 meals a day, the summer school’s programme, access to lectures, and a Full Festival Pass. Early Bird Tickets are available for students until March 31, and it is recommended to apply early to secure a spot!

Considering the number of participants and the scale of the project installations, not to mention the closing arts and music festival, the organisers guarantee that this year’s summer school and festival will be the biggest and most exciting one in the history of Hello Wood. Future-oriented architecture, design, and art students; opinion leaders; and teachers from all around the world will gather to create something extraordinary during their 10 days together.

For further information, follow the Facebook event of the festival and take a look at the Hello Wood website as well.