The Zlín House of Arts could once again become a memorial to Tomáš Baťa

ZLÍN - The Zlín House of Arts, which houses the regional gallery of visual arts and the philharmonic orchestra, could once again return to its original purpose. The building was established in the early 1930s as the Tomáš Baťa Memorial; the founder of the shoe empire died in a plane crash in 1932. The memorial, which is one of the most valuable Baťa buildings in the city, was designed by architect Fryntišek Lydie Gahura.
The Zlín city hall intends to relocate the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic to the Congress and University Center, which began construction this year. The regional gallery is expected to acquire new spaces in the former Baťa industrial complex. According to Irena Ondrová, the deputy mayor of Zlín, the reconstruction of the House of Arts will require a larger investment, so it is realistic to expect it within ten years.
"There are several options for how to renovate the building. In a simpler variant, we could just clean the building, empty the spaces, and exhibit some items in the memorial, including perhaps the reconstructed airplane in which Baťa crashed. In this case, the building wouldn't even need to be heated. The more expensive option would involve doubling the skin, and the memorial could also house an exhibition on Zlín architecture," Ondrová stated.
Experts appreciate the building with its prominent reinforced concrete skeleton and glazed façade. "The world-renowned architect Eva Jiřičná even expressed that she values this pure building more than the famous Baťa skyscraper," Ondrová said. Jiřičná also designed the Congress and University Center.
In addition to the skyscraper, typical Baťa houses are a symbol of Zlín's Baťa architecture. They formed entire neighborhoods that emerged in Zlín, especially in the 1930s, to provide housing for the labor force of the rapidly developing Baťa factories. There are several basic types of houses, most of which are two-story with flat roofs. A typical feature is the brick facades.
The Baťa houses make up the majority of the urban heritage zone, which is defined by the city limits from 1939. It includes about 1,750 buildings in the areas of Letná, Lazy, Podvesná, Zálešná, Díly, and the factory complex in the center of Zlín. About 30,000 of the approximately 78,000 residents of the city live in them.