Vilu Tugendhat will be repaired by Unistav, which offered the lowest price

Brno - The contract for the restoration of the functionalist Tugendhat villa in Brno will likely be awarded to the Brno company Unistav. It was recommended by the selection committee, and on Tuesday, the city council will discuss its recommendation. Unistav offered to restore the UNESCO monument for 146 million crowns. This made it cheaper than the other two candidates, said the mayor's deputy Ladislav Macek (ČSSD) today. Problems with various tenders have already delayed the villa's renovation by several years.
    According to Macek, five companies submitted bids. However, the committee excluded two because they did not meet the requirements of the tender. Applicants had to provide proof that they had agreements with specific experts for the individual restoration works that need to be done in the villa. They also had to prove that these experts had the necessary restorations permits from the Ministry of Culture and that they were actively engaged in the work. "To allow true experts into the Tugendhat villa," said Macek. According to him, two companies failed to meet these requirements.
    The city could sign the contract with the winning company by the end of January. In February, the company could take over the villa, Macek added. The renovation will last two years.
    According to Macek, the renovation will be carried out according to a project that was previously developed for the city by a consortium led by the company Omnia. Although the city obtained the project in a tender, which was later canceled based on a court decision and the antimonopoly office, the boxes with the project were already at the magistrate's office at the time of cancellation, and the work of the designers was paid for. "Today the city is the owner of the project. This follows from the settlement agreement with Omnia," Macek said today. He noted that the project was also approved by foreign experts.
    The commission of experts on restoration, art history, and heritage care should begin to meet in Brno with the start of renovations. The experts and the city hall agreed to establish the commission last year, when they arrived in Brno for a conference on the Omnia project. The mayor's deputy Daniel Rychnovský (KDU-ČSL) told ČTK today that the team should meet about two or three times during the renovation, always after completing a certain stage. "They will evaluate what has been done, and if any questions arise, something with which the contractor is unsure, and an expert opinion will be needed, they can assist at that moment," he said.
    The Tugendhat villa is the only Czech modern art building listed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The renovation has been planned since its inclusion on the list in 2001. The object is owned by the city, and at the end of the year, the managing Museum of the City of Brno ended tours there.
    The Tugendhat villa was designed for the site in Brno-Černých Polích by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the late 1920s. The villa set new standards for modern living. The object also had original interior furnishings, including the layout of bathrooms and heating. The original owners lived in the villa for eight years before fleeing from the Nazi regime. During and after the war, the villa had various uses and was not very sensitively reconstructed in the 1980s. In the 1990s, Czech and Slovak politicians discussed the division of the federation there.