Holešovice, communities and a breath of fresh air: Air Max Day 2022

The 26^th, marking the annual return of Air Max Day, is almost here – to celebrate it this year, Footshop is focusing on community projects that give the city a breath of fresh air. We’ve prepared a contest for a workshop, a guide through the communities of Holešovice and a chance to be a part of a completely new project. Naturally, there’ll also be a party and an abundance of sneakers.

Why the 26^th of March? On this day in 1987, the same-titled sneaker made its in-store debut, called the Nike Air Max 1 with visible capsule Air Sole. We now, almost 40 years later, know that this silhouette designed by Tinker Hatfield completely changed the world of sneakers, and as such, is celebrated every spring.

This year’s Air Max Day is accompanied by the slogan “Give Fresh Air”. We decided to give the city fresh air through various community projects. You could compare them to the lungs of an active life, and you know what they say – healthy body, healthy mind.

WORKSHOP CONTEST

I’m going to start with this, since you only have time till Monday’s (on 21st March) midnight to sign up.

Do you have a problem with DIY around the house and fixing things? Do these things that should take only a couple of minutes take up your whole weekend? Look no further, because the workshop at ponk.space is going to teach you how to handle a drill, what types of materials you’re going to encounter while tinkering around the house, as well as lifesaving information about electrical currents – in short, you’ll become the perfect handyman, or handywoman.

If you want to leave the workshop with knowledge that’ll serve you your whole life, then all you have to do is leave a comment under the following post, in accordance with the rules of the contest. Good luck!

Check out this video to get a better picture of Ponk Space:

THE FRESH AIR OF HOLEŠOVICE

Ponk.space isn’t the only community space you can find in Holešovice. Although, the district only has about 7 sq km, there are tens of communities dedicated not only to improving neighborly relations. This is partly the reason Holešovice is so frequently ranked among the best districts in the world to live in. And by the way, it’s also the birthplace of Footshop.

For this year’s Air Max Day, we want to support community projects that breathe fresh air into our lives every day, so we put together a list of these projects that we ourselves frequent.

PONK.SPACE – Přístavní 49 – IG:@ponk.space – A community workshop where you can realize your ideas or learn something new in one of their five courses – this is where the main workshop for this year’s Air Max Day will take place.
PRAZELENINA – Varhulíkové 13 – WEB:prazelenina.cz – Everyone wishing to grow plants is welcome here. Join over a hundred gardeners and tens of volunteers that make this happen.
BIKE KITCHEN – Fuchs/Ostrov Štvanice– IG:@bikekitchenpraha – This is where you bring your old, broken-down bike to be transformed into something worthy of the Tour De France. Bike Kitchen is a community bike workshop on Štvanice (which also features a very rich night life).
PRUSALAB – Partyzánská 188/7A – IG:@prusalab – If you do any sort of prototyping, you shouldn’t miss out on Prusalab. Bring an idea, join the acceleration program and change your life. Featuring 3D printing, next gen technology and the future.
PAPELOTE – Milady Horákové 11 – IG:@papelote_cz – This creative graphic studio and Prague’s most stylish stationery transforms empty pieces of paper into something slightly more magical.
Make It Today – Hala 40 – IG:@makeittodayprague – Make It Today is a great place for kids to learn media, financial and most importantly digital literacy. The summer camps and courses at Make It Today teach the future generation to be not only consumers, but also creators.
KOKOZA – Hala 40 – IG:@kokoza_cz – Living in the city doesn’t mean you can grow and also properly dispose of your own produce. Kokoza is a project that teaches the public about the food cycle.
H40 – Bubenské nábř. 306/13 – IG:@h40_prostor – A space for events, education, movement and most importantly, for you. Hala 40 is an art & digital lab that acts as a hub for creativity.
PARALELNÍ POLIS – Dělnická 475/43 – IG:@vejdiven – The Mecca of the Czech crypto community, connecting people interested in new technology, decentralized finance and paying for coffee in Bitcoin. You can also find the shared workspace PaperHub there.

A CHALLENGE: HELP THE CITY BREATHE

Like we already said, the city breathes through various community activities. With Nike, we want to make that process even better, which is why we’re looking for a community project to support. It doesn’t matter whether it already exists, or is still in the idea stage. It doesn’t matter whether it’s going through some financial difficulty or whether it lacks publicity, because we plan to take care of both for the winning project.

It can be a charitable bistro, a community center, a skatepark, a gallery or whatever else. What’s important is the ambition to connect people, build a community and create an environment where it’s just easier to breathe.

Did something pop into your head while reading this? Let us know at [email protected] by the 26^th of March along with some context and reasons why we should pick your project. Our panel of independent experts will sit down and choose the best one.