The restoration of the Tugendhat villa in Brno has entered its second half

Brno - The renovation of the Tugendhat Villa, which is the only one of Brno's municipal monuments listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list, has entered its second half. During the first year of work, the builders removed most of the non-original elements - parts of the equipment, partitions, and floor coverings including concrete. Currently, restorers are hiding the later applied layers of plaster. The renovation is expected to take another year, stated the spokesperson of the municipality, Pavel Žára, in a press release today.
    After about a year of construction work, a new roof is largely completed. The electrical installation in the house is similarly advanced. Currently, the builders are primarily working on the static reinforcement of the terrace. During construction, it was confirmed that both sewage and rainwater had been leaking into the foundations under the terrace for a long time, thus damaging them. Therefore, the builders had to excavate new foundation blocks so that the structure could be secured to them.
    Although they had to dismantle the surrounding terrace wall for the foundation reinforcement, the heritage protectors wished to preserve its plaster. Therefore, restorers applied a special reinforcing fabric to its surface and secured a wooden slat frame to it. The wall behind the plaster was then dismantled by the workers. Once the work on the static part is completed and the wall is rebuilt, the removed plaster will be transferred back by the restorers.
    Heritage restoration is also taking place in restoration workshops, where builders have transported items such as the pavement from the terraces, the library made of Makassar ebony, and steel elements. After restoration, these will be returned.
    The heritage restoration, costing 156 million crowns, is expected to be completed in January 2012. The villa will likely remain inaccessible to the public for some time after that, as the removed equipment will be moved in and the spaces prepared for exhibition. Previously, tourists could enter the villa only by prior appointment. The same regime is likely to be maintained.
    The villa was designed by the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Tugendhat family enjoyed the house for only eight years. Fearing the Nazis, they emigrated. When they left, the house was variously used and later also reconstructed, not always considerately. Nevertheless, the building remains the most authentic work of the architect on the European continent, said the villa's manager Iveta Černá from the Museum of the City of Brno.