The Brno functionalist gem is still awaiting restoration in vain

Prague - A seemingly ordinary house from the street, which was built in Brno - Černá Pole in the late 1920s according to the plans of the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, is one of the most significant buildings of interwar Czechoslovakia. The Brno villa, which began construction in June 1929 and is named after the Tugendhat family, along with the Müller villa in Prague, is one of the essential works of modern world architecture. However, it has been waiting in vain for a reconstruction that would restore its former glory.
    The unique functionalist building has been a national cultural monument since the mid-1990s. Eight years ago, it was inscribed as only the third example of modern architecture on the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List. Moreover, in a domestic expert survey on the best buildings of the 20th century, the Tugendhat villa ranked second, surpassed only by the transmitter and hotel on Ještěd designed by architect Karel Hubáček.
    Mies's Brno house, along with the slightly older German pavilion in Barcelona - which the architect largely referenced - is considered the most significant work of this artist. The building, meanwhile, is externally unassuming, with only a white facade and a garage facing the street. The main living space, which is only vaguely divided according to the architect’s design, opens into the garden. The villa was built on a sloping plot that descends to the south, offering its residents a unique view of Brno.
    In the villa, Mies breathed life into his idea of a habitable continuous space, with glass walls literally bringing the surroundings into the house. Owners and their guests could even lower some windows completely to the floor, making the merging of the interior with the nature of the garden even more impressive. The villa is also interesting from a structural point of view: it consists of a steel skeleton, and the ceilings of the floors are supported not by walls as traditionally, but only by slender chrome pillars.
    The interior space is divided into three floors, which differ not only in their purpose but also in their layout. At street level, Mies designed not only the entrance to the house but also bedrooms for the couple, children, and nurses; the basement housed the technical facilities of the house, including the laboratory of passionate photographer Fritz Tugendhat. The most important part of the villa, the enormous living space of nearly 250 square meters, is located in the center. In addition to custom-made furniture, it offered residents exceptional comfort for its time, including air conditioning.
    The Tugendhats, who spared no expense on the construction (the couple came from wealthy families involved in the textile industry), enjoyed the unique house for only eight years. Fearing the Nazis, they emigrated to Switzerland in the late 1930s and subsequently to Venezuela. During the war, the house was variously rented and remodeled, including serving as a studio for the Messerschmitt company. The villa, damaged by a bomb explosion, also did not fare well during the liberation of Brno, when soldiers of the Red Army briefly stayed in it.
    After the war, the house served various purposes, including healthcare, and in the early 1980s it came into the ownership of the city and began to be used for representation and accommodation of guests. At that time, it also underwent a rather insensitive reconstruction that removed the original fixtures in the bathrooms, toilets, and heating elements. The Tugendhat villa entered public consciousness in the early 1990s also as one of the venues for discussions between Czech and Slovak statesmen about the division of the Czechoslovak federation.
    Since the turn of the century, the Brno municipality has been preparing a reconstruction of the house; however, the original competition was quashed by the court due to errors, and it is still unclear when a new one will be announced. Due to the delays in repairs, descendants of the original owners even requested the return of the monument two years ago. The city council ultimately rejected this request.