On 30 September and 1 October 2026, the Nová Tržnica venue in Bratislava hosted the workshop City as a LEGO, organised within the STICS project and the Twin City Future Innovation Manufacturing Hub initiative. The event brought together technical education, urban data and creative problem-solving focused on specific challenges facing the city.
The workshop involved students from four secondary technical schools who, under the professional guidance of teachers and doctoral students of the Department of Environmental Management and Spatial Planning of the Faculty of Management, Comenius University Bratislava, worked on a shared interactive model of the city. The activity was intended primarily for students of technical fields aged 17 to 19, and its aim was to support STEM education, teamwork and the practical application of technical knowledge. The original concept envisaged the creation of a joint LEGO model measuring approximately 0.5 × 0.5 m, linking the themes of smart mobility, sustainable transport, energy-efficient buildings, digital technologies and data visualisation.
The main theme of the workshop eventually became a safer route to school for children. The students built a model of the surroundings of the Milan Hodža Primary School and Kindergarten on Škarniclova Street in Bratislava's Old Town. In creating it, they used not only LEGO bricks but also electronics, urban data, 3D printing and drone footage.
Using three buttons, the interactive model displays three different traffic scenarios. LED lights represent vehicles and their speed. The first scenario depicts a situation with a high number of cars and high vehicle speeds in front of the school. The second presents possible traffic-calming measures, designed with the help of drone footage. The third scenario shows the desired state – more walking and cycling, fewer cars, lower traffic volumes and safer streets.
The resulting model demonstrates in a clear and accessible way how data, technology and well-chosen urban planning and traffic measures can contribute to a safer urban environment. The students had to combine knowledge from several technical fields, work in teams and seek a solution to a concrete problem drawn from a real urban setting. The workshop thus showed how technical education can be linked with the themes of sustainable mobility, safety and quality of life in the city.
Representatives of the Faculty of Management of Comenius University Bratislava also played an important role throughout the event. The faculty was represented by teachers, doctoral students and students of the Department of Environmental Management and Spatial Planning (KEMPP).
Throughout the workshop, their task was to provide expert guidance and direction to the individual teams of secondary school students, to help them formulate solutions and to steer their work so that the individual sub-tasks led towards a common result. The KEMPP representatives thus connected professional topics of spatial planning, mobility and urban development with the students' practical work and supported them in translating technical ideas into a comprehensible model of a real urban problem.
This involvement also created space for closer contact between the university environment and secondary vocational schools, and enabled the students to work with experts, doctoral students and university students on a shared interdisciplinary task.
The activity also included cooperation with practitioners and organisations. The City of Bratislava and the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava provided data and professional support. MakerSpace Bratislava – Nová Cvernovka was also involved in preparing the technical solution; there, the students built a wooden base that houses and protects the model's electronics. The design of the model was developed in cooperation with ModulAREbricks.
The workshop was attended by students and teachers from the Secondary Technical School of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, the Secondary Technical School of Electrical Engineering, the Secondary Technical School of Mechanical Engineering and the Secondary Technical School of Transport. The aim of the activity was to support STEM talent and the technical education of young people in the Bratislava–Vienna region, while also showing that even a playful and illustrative tool such as a LEGO model can open a discussion on complex questions about the future of cities.
Ing. arch. Zuzana Ladzianska, PhD.