Annen Gate

A multifunctional city block is designed for the currently empty place in Brno, on the corner of Pekarská and Anenská streets. The urban, architectural and material-spatial solution tries to respect the scale and cultural-historical context of the place. The proposed main function of housing is enlivened by additional functions of administration and trade and services on the ground floor. The corner is an important compositional point and the proposed round and glazed shape of the building will form a visual dominant on the view from Pekarská Street. In the city block, the inner space of the courtyard is created, in which the historical heritage of the retaining wall of the hill on which the church once stood is presented. The passage through the city block is possible in the route of the former street U sv. Anny. The lack of green spaces in the courtyard is compensated by the creation of green roofs for residents and users. The architectural expression of the townhouse tries to follow the traditions of modernism, typical for the city of Brno

Combination of Biochar with N–Fertilizer Affects Properties of Soil and N₂O emissions in Maize Crop

One of the challenges of harnessing higher productivity levels and sustainability of agriculture related to N fertilization is in expanding soil N2O emissions, which has become a serious issue in recent years. Recent studies suggest that biochar may be the solution to this problem, but there is still a knowledge gap related to biochar application rates and its reapplication in Central Europe; therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of biochar (initial application and reapplication in 2014 and 2018, respectively, at rates of 0, 10 and 20 t ha−1) combined with N-fertilizer (N0—0 kg N ha−1; N1—108 kg N ha−1 and N2—162 kg N ha−1) during the growing season of maize in 2019 (warm temperature with normal precipitation) on the changes of soil properties and N2O emissions in the silty loam, Haplic Luvisol, in the temperate climate of Slovakia. The results showed that the application and reapplication of biochar proved to be an excellent tool for increasing soil pH (in the range 7–13%), soil organic carbon—Corg (2–212%), and reducing the soil’s NH4+ (41–69%); however, there were more pronounced positive effects when biochar was combined with N-fertilizer at the higher level (N2). The same effects were found in the case of N2O emissions (reduction in the range 33–83%). Biochar applied without N-fertilizer and combined with the higher fertilizer level had a suppressive effect on N2O emissions. Biochar did not have any effect on maize yield in 2019