Loos interiors in Pilsen will allow a glimpse into normally inaccessible places

Plzeň – Visitors will be able to peek into normally inaccessible places in the interiors designed by the world-renowned architect Adolf Loos in Plzeň in the last century. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, these interiors have been closed to tourists so far, but they will open for the first time this year on the first weekend of June. Interested parties will again be able to take two regular tour routes, and during June, a tour of the normally inaccessible apartment of Richard Hirsch and the apartment of the Semler family, which is only open occasionally, will be added. A new guide and a new exhibit for fans of Loos's architecture are new this year, said Petra Vomelová, spokesperson for the city organization Plzeň - TURISMUS, to ČTK.

On Friday, June 4, lovers of architecture and design can embark on two tour routes through three of Loos's interiors, including the apartment of the Kraus couple, the Voglovy apartment, and the Brummel House, which remained in the ownership of the original owners' family. The offer will be enriched by another route featuring two interiors that are exceptionally accessible. The first will be the apartment of the Semler family, which can only be visited a few times a year, as well as the apartment of Richard Hirsch, located in the neo-Renaissance building of Vilém and Marta Hirsch at Plachého Street No. 6, which will open to the public for the first time this year. "Visitors will be able to see the interior that was part of the first apartment modified by Loos in Plzeň for the first time on June 19 and then approximately once a month until autumn. If there is interest, we will add more dates," said Anna Gaierová, who is in charge of the Adolf Loos Plzeň project.

For the Kraus apartment at Bendova Street No. 10, a new exhibit has been acquired: an armchair produced in a small series by the Thun company in the 1930s. "Adolf Loos placed one of them in front of the fireplace in the parlor of the Semler family's apartment, which is visible in preserved photographs. We managed to purchase this stool at an online auction this year, and visitors will be able to see it in the Kraus apartment. However, in the future, it should 'return' to the original interior of Hugo and Helena Semler, which will undergo renovation," Gaierová said.

Loos's works can be seen in Vienna, Paris, Plzeň, Montreux, Hrušovany near Brno, or Semmering. Plzeň has the most of his realizations after Vienna. They are presented in a new short video, which won the main prize in the national round of the Tourfilm 2021 festival competition. The spot features footage from the upcoming film "Comfortable Century," which chronicles the stories of Plzeň's Loos interiors, their post-war history, and the fates of the original inhabitants. A new publication dedicated to all preserved, accessible, inaccessible, and extinct Loos realizations in Plzeň is also available at the city information center.