The Tugendhat Villa will open to the public in January 2012

photo: David Židlický

Brno - In approximately six months, the first lovers of modern architecture should be able to visit the restored Tugendhat Villa in Brno. By then, the heritage restoration should be completed, and on January 24, the villa is set to be ceremonially opened to visitors. Representatives of the city informed journalists today during a monitoring day at the villa. According to Mayor Roman Onderka (ČSSD), the city has even agreed with the family of the original owners to purchase several pieces of original furniture. "And that at very accommodating prices," translated ČTK Onderka's statement, said the head of the press department, Soňa Haluzová.
     During the reconstruction, builders uncovered more parts of the original furnishings. The latest discovery is a part of the original table's structure, found in the floor of the dining room by the famous Makasar wall. There was a casing made of steel profiles, in which a part of the original table leg was preserved. "Presumably, no later than in 1945, when the dance school of Karla Hladká began operating here, the leg was cut off at floor level," is noted in the record about the progress of the reconstruction. Builders transported the artifact to the restoration workshop. After cleaning and refurbishment, it will either return to its original place or go to the depository of original elements.
     In May of this year, a part of the original Makasar wall, which is one of the symbols of the villa, was also found during the reconstruction. Brno art historian Miroslav Ambroz discovered in his study of period documents that the wall could be located in the building of the law faculty. He then identified it as cladding in the cafeteria there. Experts had considered the wooden artifact lost for decades, and there was a copy in the villa.
     According to Haluzová, further parts of the villa's furnishings are currently being created as replicas of the original pieces. This applies, for example, to the bathrooms and the technical background. "The builders have prepared a boiler room so they can start heating with the first cooler days and work inside," added Haluzová.
Modifications have also begun in the garden, though, according to Haluzová, the efforts of the builders and gardeners are currently hampered by the weather. Currently, according to her, the builders are going to a quarry in Luleč in the Vyškov area, where they select stones to place in the garden.
     The villa was built according to the plans of the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe on a plot in Brno's Černá Pole from June 1929. The Tugendhat family moved in in December 1930. The family enjoyed the house for only eight years. Fearing the Nazis, they emigrated.

photo: David Židlický