Brno received a European grant for the restoration of the Tugendhat villa

Brno - The restoration of the Tugendhat villa in Brno, which is the only Czech building of modern art listed on the UNESCO list, will be largely funded by a European grant. The grant has been secured by the Brno city hall. The funding should cover about 88 percent of the costs. However, the exact amount is not yet known; the awarded contribution is higher than the price at which the winning company won the tender. The amount of the grant will thus be adjusted to the costs, said the city mayor's deputy Ladislav Macek (ČSSD) to ČTK.
    When submitting the application, the city hall estimated the cost of the heritage restoration at 176 million crowns. The so-called eligible costs were determined by the reviewers of the application at 156 million crowns, and they granted the city the entire amount - 85 percent was to be covered by the union and 15 percent by the state. However, in the tender, the company Unistav won with a bid of 146 million crowns.
    The restoration of the monument began in the spring. According to Macek, it is an exceptionally complex project. This includes laboratory testing of original materials.
    Due to the restoration, the villa should be closed for at least two years. Afterward, it will reopen to visitors in a new appearance along with a new offering. After restoration, it will not have the white color as it does now, but a light ochre color. "The villa will have the color that we found (as original), it was the seventh exterior plaster layer," said the villa's administrator Iveta Černá to ČTK before the restoration began. Experts discovered the original color during an international survey conducted from 2003 to 2006.
    Part of the villa's restoration also includes the revitalization of the garden. According to Macek, the trees planted in recent decades, regardless of the original intentions of the architect, as well as those that have seeded spontaneously, should be removed. The villa's managers are also considering expanding the garden. It would be connected to the garden around the Löw-Beer villa, where the parents of Greta Tugendhat once lived and provided the upper part of the land for the construction of her house. Today, the two gardens are separated by a fence. The Löw-Beer villa is owned by the region and houses a boarding school.