Vila Tugendhat will be closed; the linoleum needs to be repaired

photo: David Židlický

Brno - The Tugendhat villa in Brno will close again a few weeks after its grand opening to the public. The villa needs some adjustments, such as slightly wavy linoleum. The builders did not glue it to the concrete as originally done, and thus it has slightly warped, said Pavel Ciprian, director of the Museum of the City of Brno, to ČTK today. He added that similar "sanitary weeks" will occur in the villa once or twice a year.
     According to Ciprian, the villa is enjoying extraordinary interest from visitors, which of course takes its toll. However, the weekly break in guided tours will not cause complications for anyone who has made a reservation for a tour. The villa's management anticipated the week-long closure and did not list available tours on these dates in the booking system at all. "The following week is fully booked again," the director stated.
     The villa will be closed from Monday, April 23. It will open again to guests on the following Tuesday. Monday is traditionally the closing day for the villa. During the week-long closure, workers from the company responsible for the recent heritage restoration of the building will be working in the villa. "We had agreed on this with the contractor even before the public opening," Ciprian said. According to him, similar "sanitary weeks" are also held for the Müller villa in Prague.
     For other monuments, necessary adjustments and maintenance work are usually addressed during the winter when they are closed to the public. This is not the case for the Tugendhat villa, which is accessible year-round.
     The heritage restoration of the Tugendhat villa began in January 2010 and lasted approximately two years. The costs for the restoration reached 174 million crowns, of which 155 million crowns were covered by grants from EU funds and the state. The price does not include project costs.