In the restoration of Kantor's villa, Jablonec n. N. is collaborating with the family of the former owner

Jablonec nad Nisou - Jablonec nad Nisou is collaborating with the family of the former owner on the preparation of the reconstruction of the functionalist Kantor villa, with a tender for the contractor planned to be announced this autumn. The valuable villa on Palackého Street was purchased by the town hall in 2017 for 8.121 million crowns, and preparations are now underway for the project documentation for the public competition, said Deputy Mayor Jakub Chuchlík (Pirates) to ČTK today.

The villa, located near the Jablonec dam, was built by doctor Alfréd Kantor and is one of the most valuable structures of this style in the region. The four-story house resembles the famous Müller villa in Prague. It was built in 1934 according to the design of Heinrich Kulka, a student and close collaborator of the modern architecture classic Adolf Loos. The family had to leave the villa after the war and moved to Germany. Although the house underwent an insensitive reconstruction into apartments in the 1960s, some original features have been preserved according to architects.

"I attended a panel discussion in Vienna on the exhibition about Heinrich Kulka, where we met his grandson for the first time, with whom we had only been in contact online so far; he lives in New Zealand. We also met the Kantor family, established contact, and obtained some materials that we previously did not have. We have arranged an online interview and consultation regarding the proposal for the restoration of the villa," said Chuchlík.

The cost of the reconstruction is estimated by designers at 60 million crowns, and the town hall can obtain up to 42 million crowns from European funds through the ITI program of the Liberec-Jablonec agglomeration. The city announced an architectural competition for the villa's renovation, with 28 studios and ateliers participating; the Prague atelier Objektor architekti won. "We will try to salvage everything that remains here and was designed by architect Kulka. Unfortunately, not much has survived, as the interventions in the 1960s were quite drastic," said architect Jakub Červenka.

After the reconstruction, the town hall intends to open the listed villa to the public. Currently, the house is only accessible occasionally or to pre-booked groups, with operations managed by the municipal company Kultura Jablonec.