Brno selected a designer for the transformation of Chleborád's Villa into a center for Leoš Janáček

Brno – The Brno city council has selected a designer for the first phase of the transformation of Chleborád's villa on Smetanova Street into the Leoš Janáček center. The contract was awarded to the architectural office Atelier DWG, which has similar experience with modifications to the Constitutional Court, stated Deputy Mayor Karin Podivinská (Brnoklidem) in a press release. The first phase of the work will include ensuring the building's structural stability and eliminating moisture.

The city acquired the property at the beginning of last year when it exchanged it with the Brno Bishopric for an unused school building on Jánská. The villa at the corner of Kounicova and Smetanova Streets had been sought after for many years due to its close ties to Leoš Janáček. He worked there as the director and teacher of the organ school and spent the last 18 years of his life in a house built in its garden.

For the project documentation, the city will pay two million crowns excluding tax. The costs for the first phase of the work are estimated by the city at 90 million crowns, but the exact amount will emerge from the project. Construction works are expected to follow the completed project documentation in 2027, which, according to the municipality, aims to prevent further deterioration of both Chleborád's villa and the house in the garden where the composer lived.

"As soon as the existing municipal music school moves to a new location, the City Museum of Brno will also begin with the internal modifications. The site will feature an exhibition dedicated to Janáček, a concert hall, as well as a children's center, a café, or space for educational activities," added Podivinská.

The planned center will be operated by the City Museum of Brno. Janáček's archive, which is listed in the International Memory of the World Register of UNESCO, will remain in the building, along with some departments of the Department of Music History of the Moravian Museum, such as the library, study room, and research office. Other parts of Chleborád's villa are to be opened to the public. In addition to various events, a permanent audio exhibition will be created there, as well as a children's and educational center focused on music education and a café. Janáček's house will remain in its current form as an intimate insight into the composer's daily life.

The city aims to open the center by 2028, which will mark 100 years since Janáček's death, added the mayor of the city, Markéta Vaňková (ODS). The Janáček cultural center, which is being developed between Besední and Veselá Streets, is also expected to be completed in the same year. The concert hall will serve the Brno Philharmonic.