New owner of Zikmund's villa: The study is a unique space

Zlín – The study of traveler Miroslav Zikmund is, according to the new owner of the Zlín villa where Zikmund lived for almost 70 years, a unique space. The house also contains thousands of books and hundreds of items from travels. Zikmund offered the villa for sale to Zlín entrepreneur Čestmír Vančura, who accepted the offer and became the chairman of the Zikmund's Villa Foundation, which will take care of the property.

"I was struck by the consistency of the work, the house, why Mr. Zikmund did not have to intervene in the house for almost 70 years. There is a significant economy, everything has its place, everything is designed with function in mind in a timeless manner. Economy and functionality are also part of his personality; he was able to imprint it here and find collaborators who could realize his idea," Vančura told ČTK today. The new owner was particularly interested in the study, which was a place of concentration and an intimate space in the house for Zikmund. "Once, I sat in the chair opposite the writing desk, Mirek sat at the table. I asked him who usually sat in this chair; the villa was visited by numerous personalities, and Mirek kept records about it, and I expected him to mention at least one of the guests. And he said that no one. Even Jirka Hanzelka never sat there; the study is a very special space," stated Vančura. Other parts of the house, except for the bedroom and the son's room, were intended for meeting people.

The house should remain as much as possible in the form that the traveler inhabited after reconstruction. It is intended to serve the public, especially the planned visitor center in the unused basement. Zikmund has kept diaries daily since childhood, and according to Vančura, this has preserved a comprehensive account of himself, society, and the time. The house is also a testimony that the younger generation could use as a teaching aid, according to Vančura.

"In the house, the art of many fields happily meets: literature, photography, film, visual arts, design, architecture, and landscape creation - thanks to the beautiful garden. An authentically preserved environment can thus tell a lot about its former inhabitant and its creators. How to preserve these messages while not taking the life away from the house is a great question and task for the new foundation," said architect and board member of the foundation Petr Všetečka.

The originally functionalist house was built between 1933 and 1935 by the Baťa company in Zlín's Nivách, most likely according to the design of architect F. L. Gahura, for the first district governor of Zlín and government advisor Josef Januštík. He lived in the villa until 1953, although the property was already purchased from the Baťa company in 1942 by director Elmar Klos, who was the son of Marie Januštíková from her first marriage. The Januštíks moved away from Zlín in the 1950s, and in 1953 Klos sold the property with the land to Zikmund, with whom he became acquainted in the Zlín film studios. Zikmund and architect Zdeněk Plesník carried out a major reconstruction.