In Brno, they present the work of architect Ohmann, the author of the Kramář Villa

Friedrich Ohmann, Café Corso

Brno - The work of architect Friedrich Ohmann, including the Kramář Villa, the residence of Czech prime ministers, is presented in a new exhibition at the Moravian Gallery in Brno. Ohmann was one of the leading figures in European architecture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He combined the best ideas of the past with new thoughts and elements, said the exhibition's author Jindřich Vybíral to journalists today.
    Ohmann drew inspiration from, for example, Prague's Baroque, which contemporary theorists had yet to fully appreciate. "Ohmann learned to design with regard to broader spatial relationships, to the genius loci, from the works of Baroque architects, particularly Kilián Ignaz Dientzenhofer," Vybíral stated.
    The exhibition premiered in Prague; however, its presentation in Brno offers more information about Ohmann's work beyond Czech borders, such as in Vienna, Magdeburg, and Split. Unlike in Prague, the Moravian Gallery also displays Ohmann's furniture from local collections.
    Ohmann, who lived from 1858 to 1927, was a typical Central European. He was born in Lviv, and his father was a Czech German in Austrian service. In 1888, Ohmann became the first professor of architecture at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, where he mentored several successors over a ten-year period, as he did later during his time in Vienna.
    In the Czech lands, he left behind several buildings, such as the Valter Palace in Prague and the Central Hotel. "The Café Corso designed by Ohmann is considered the first Art Nouveau building in the Czech metropolis," Vybíral said. Later, the architect worked on the modernization of the imperial residence in Vienna. For the Brno family Löw-Beer, he created an unexecuted design for an opulent residence.