Cabin Fever 2025

 

From 23–31 July 2025, architects, students, designers, partners, and local businesses came together in Česká Kamenice, Czech Republic, on the grounds of a former textile factory and wartime labour camp. Powered by VELUX, this year’s edition explored how light and space shape human experience, placing presence, intimacy, and connection at the centre of architecture.

Under the theme “Quality Time – Connection to Each Other”, participants from around the world built together, reflecting on how design can deepen our relationships with each other and with the places we inhabit.

 
 

How Hello Wood Arrived in Česká Kamenice

Hello Wood’s journey to Česká Kamenice began in Csóromfölde, a nearly abandoned rural site in Hungary. Through our three-year-long Project Village programme, Hello Wood brought together students, professors, and architectural studios from around the world to explore how design and building could breathe new life into depopulated rural areas.

After similar international programmes in Argentina and San Francisco, the studio sought a new European location where their model could continue to evolve a place that could host not only physical structures, but also conversations about the deeper role of architecture in society. This vision found a natural ally in VELUX, whose architectural philosophy, centred on the interplay of space, light, and lived experience, and on architecture as a socially engaged practice.

Through a network of Czech architects previously involved in Project Village, particularly Mjölk architekti, who played a key role in building local connections, Hello Wood was introduced to Česká Kamenice. The town’s layered history, natural beauty, and local ambition for revitalisation made it the ideal setting for this shared mission.

An open call for architects brought in new collaborators, united under a shared vision: a three-year programme in which Hello Wood returns each summer with an international team of students and professionals to co-create not just buildings, but lasting relationships between architecture, people, and the environment. This is not just a festival or a workshop — it is a growing ecosystem, rooted in cooperation, learning, and the belief that architecture can be a powerful social act.

 
 
 
 
 
  • Arthur Mamou-Mani X FAB.PUB (UK) – designer of the Burning Man main temple 2018, 2019

  • Entropic (ES) – pushing the boundaries of sustainable design

  • Mjölk architekti (CZ) – poetic architecture rooted in place

  • Hello Wood (HU) – pioneers of award-winning design-build education

 
 
 
 

As the main sponsor of Cabin Fever Summer School, VELUX is committed to supporting the next generation of architects and designers who are shaping a more sustainable, light-filled future. With over 80 years of experience, they lead the way in creating healthier indoor environments through daylight and fresh air.

The philosophy of VELUX is rooted in a deep respect for both people and the planet. VELUX solution don’t just bring plenty of daylight in spaces we live in, they reduce energy consumption, improve quality of indoor climate and strengthen our connection to nature.

By partnering with Cabin Fever, they are fostering creativity and forward-thinking design. It’s a collaboration that reflects our core belief: the future must be built responsibly, with light, with care, and with purpose.

 
 
 
 

Moments from Cabin Fever 2025:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Watch the Cabin Fever 2018 aftermovie to get in the mood.

 

Thank you for our amazing partners:

 
 

Want to be part of the Cabin Fever experience as organizer? Join us as a volunteer and help make the event unforgettable! If you're interested, write to us at info@hellowood.eu.

 

Previous Hello Wood Summer Schools: