The Zlín City Hall is preparing a conference on the future of the Baťa Memorial

ZLÍN - The Zlín city hall is preparing a conference on the future of the Tomáš Baťa memorial, which currently serves as the House of Arts. Architects will discuss the possibilities of how the building should look once it returns to its original purpose, said Deputy Mayor Irena Ondrová to reporters today. The building from the early 1930s is among the architecturally most valuable objects in the city, designed by architect František Lydie Gahura. It currently houses the regional gallery of fine arts and the philharmonic.
The conference will also commemorate the 130th anniversary of Tomáš Baťa's birth; the founder of the shoe empire died in a plane crash in 1932. The city, together with the Tomáš Baťa Foundation, is preparing the conference for September and aims to invite prominent architects, such as Eva Jiřičná, who also designed the Congress and University Center for Zlín.
"Several versions of how to utilize the memorial will be discussed there. From the purest version, which returns to the original form with only a replica of the plane in which Baťa died in the memorial, to more complex proposals that consider, for example, the construction of new conference or archival spaces. Of course, we welcome any new suggestions," Ondrová stated.
The amount of investment in the reconstruction of the memorial will depend on the chosen option, with costs ranging from 20 to 100 million crowns, and the city hopes to utilize European resources. "That's also why we want to address the form of the object at the conference, so we can prepare for funding," the deputy noted.
In a few years, the city hall intends to relocate the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic from the House of Arts, which should have its new headquarters in the Congress and University Center that began construction this year. The regional gallery is expected to acquire new spaces in the former Baťa industrial complex.
The Baťa architecture in Zlín is also symbolized by Building 21 of the former industrial complex, known as the Baťa skyscraper, and typical Baťa houses. They formed entire neighborhoods that emerged in Zlín, particularly in the 1930s, for the housing of the workforce of the rapidly developing Baťa factories. A characteristic feature are the brick facades.
The Baťa houses make up the majority of the urban heritage zone defined by the city boundaries from 1939. It includes about 1,750 buildings in the areas of Letná, Lazy, Podvesná, Zálešná, Díly, and the industrial complex in the center of Zlín. Approximately 30,000 of the city's 78,000 inhabitants live in them.