People today visited the restored Tomáš Baťa Memorial in Zlín

The memorial will again close after today's ceremonial opening, but pre-arranged tours will be possible, with normal operations starting in spring. The reconstruction cost 50 million crowns.

Gahura wanted the building to express Baťa's generosity, optimism, uplift, simplicity, clarity, and truthfulness. "He did it by slightly modifying the Zlín architectural canon. It is a typical three-nave construction, a reinforced concrete skeleton, but he wanted to express generosity by reducing the material to an absolute minimum, using three materials: concrete, iron, and glass," Všetečka stated.

The number three is important in the composition of the building. "The building is divided everywhere into triples or multiples of three. Each panel is divided into six glass panels, and the glass panels are vertically divided into nine," the architect noted. According to him, the memorial is important because it completes the Gahura composition of the modern city of Zlín. "I've been coming here for years and I always say that as long as the 'head of the city' is not right, the city won't function. For me, it's some kind of urban satisfaction," Všetečka said.

The memorial is, according to him, a manifesto of open space. "The emptiness has its reason because architecture is perceived best when it is unfilled. It's something like a church, even though it's not a church," he stated. Therefore, all the technical details are also hidden in the space, for example, the outlets are in the floor. A large part of the original building has been preserved.

The central motif of the original memorial was the Junkers F 13 aircraft in which Baťa lost his life. "Gahura designed the building around the aircraft, which he suspended in the main hall. The compositionally levitating cross of the aircraft determined other relationships of the building; the center of the object was in the cockpit of the aircraft at the place where Baťa took his last breath. That is a very symbolic thing," Všetečka explained.

The restored memorial currently lacks the aircraft, but a model is being made that will be placed in it next spring. "I believe that on May 1, 2019, the Junkers will be here. The basic frame of the aircraft is already completed; now it needs the corrugated sheets that characterize the Junkers," said Pavel Velev, director of the Tomáš Baťa Foundation. However, today visitors could already see the gold pocket watch belonging to Tomáš Baťa, which he wore on the day of the accident, as well as a piece of the propeller, the aircraft's cabin thermometer, and Baťa's tie clip. According to Velev, the restoration of the memorial has created a new symbol for the city of Zlín. "It is finally a place that will perfectly commemorate Tomáš Baťa. It is a unique building for a unique person," Velev stated.