Villa Tugendhat

Last updated

Villa Tugendhat
Vila Tugendhat
Vila Tugendhat exterior Dvorak2.JPG
View from the garden
Villa Tugendhat
General information
Location Brno, Czech Republic
Coordinates 49°12′26″N16°36′57″E / 49.20722°N 16.61583°E / 49.20722; 16.61583
Construction started1928 (1928)
Completed1930 (1930)
Design and construction
Architect(s) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich
Criteria Cultural: ii, iv
Reference 1052
Inscription2001 (25th Session)
Area0.73 ha
Buffer zone2,824.9 ha

Villa Tugendhat (Czech : Vila Tugendhat) is an architecturally significant building in Brno, Czech Republic. It is one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe, and was designed by the German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. It was built between 1928 and 1930 for Fritz Tugendhat and his wife Greta, of the wealthy and influential Jewish Czech Tugendhat family. Of reinforced concrete, [1] the villa soon became an icon of modernism. Famous for its revolutionary use of space and industrial building materials, the building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2001. [2]

Contents

Design

The free-standing three-story villa is on a slope and faces the south-west. The second story (the ground floor) consists of the main living and social areas with the conservatory, the terrace, the kitchen and servants' rooms. The third story (the first floor) has the main entrance from the street with a passage to the terrace, the entrance hall, and rooms for the parents, children and the nanny with appropriate facilities. The chauffeur's flat with the garages and the terrace are accessed separately. [3]

Mies' design principle of "less is more" and emphasis on functional amenities created a fine example of early functionalist architecture, a groundbreaking new vision in building design at the time. Mies used a revolutionary iron framework, which enabled him to dispense with supporting walls and arrange the interior in order to achieve a feeling of space and light. One wall is a sliding sheet of plate glass that descends to the basement the way an automobile window does. Mies specified all the furnishings, in collaboration with interior designer Lilly Reich (two armchairs designed for the building, the Tugendhat chair and the Brno chair, are still in production). [4] There were no paintings or decorative items in the villa, but the interior was by no means austere due to the use of naturally patterned materials such as the onyx wall and rare tropical woods. The onyx wall is partially translucent and changes appearance when the evening sun is low. The architect managed to make the magnificent view from the villa an integral part of the interior.

The cost was very high due to the unusual construction method, luxurious materials, and the use of modern technology for heating and ventilation. The lower-ground level was used as a service area. An ultra-modern air-conditioning system was here and a glass façade that opens completely assisted by a mechanism built into the wall. [4] The floor area was unusually large and open compared to the average family home of the period, which, in addition to the various storage rooms, made the structure unique if not confusing to visitors not used to such minimalism.

Features

The main living area features a dividing wall of brown-gold onyx, which Mies sourced from the Atlas mountains in Morocco. He supervised the cutting and finishing himself.

Unusually for the time, the building features air conditioning.

In the basement there are a series of dedicated service rooms, including a mechanism to retract the windows and the Mottenkammer, a dedicated moth-resistant storage room for keeping fur coats. [5]

History

The villa was commissioned by the German Jewish Fritz and Greta Tugendhat. [4] The construction company of Artur and Moritz Eisler began construction in the summer of 1929 and finished it in 14 months.

Fritz and Greta Tugendhat lived in the villa for just eight years before the Nazi's persecution of and genocide of the Jewish people forced the family to flee Czechoslovakia for their lives with their children in 1938 (including philosopher Ernst Tugendhat), [6] shortly before the country was dismembered following the Munich Agreement with the Nazis.

The family moved to Switzerland and then had to flee again to Venezuela; after the Holocaust they returned to Switzerland, but never were able to live in the villa again.

During World War II

The villa was confiscated by the Gestapo in 1939 and used as an apartment and office; its interior was modified and many pieces disappeared.

In 1942 the house was rented out as offices of the Nazi Messerschmitt aeroplane works. Willy Messerschmitt had his own apartment in the villa.

In April 1945, Brno was liberated by the Red Army and a Soviet unit quartered in the villa, doing considerable damage to the building's white linoleum floor. The often reported information that the villa was also used as a stable is unlikely, as the entrance door from the garden is too small. What furniture remained in the villa was used for firewood.

Post-war restoration and opening to the public

In the post-war years, the building was partially repaired and used for various purposes (for example as a children's physiotherapy centre) for several decades after World War II. [6]

Greta Tugendhat returned to the villa in 1967 with Dirk Lohan a senior architect from Mies's Chicago studio (and his grandson) and explained the original design to him, and a group of Czech architects set out to repair it. [7] It was inscribed on the National List of Cultural Heritage in 1969 and restored after 1980. On 26 August 1992, Václav Klaus and Vladimír Mečiar, the political leaders of Czechoslovakia, met there to sign the document that divided the country into the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic. [6] [8] Since 1994 the villa has been open to the public as a museum administered by the city of Brno.

In 1993 the Villa Tugendhat Fund and Friends of Tugendhat were formed to preserve the villa. In 1995 Brno received a $15,000 grant to pay for preliminary research from the Samuel H. Kress European Preservation Program, part of the World Monuments Fund. The International Music and Art Foundation, based in Liechtenstein, pledged $100,000, because a trustee, Nicholas Thaw, was also a trustee of the World Monuments Fund. The Robert Wilson Foundation matched the $100,000. [7]

In 2007 Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat applied for the restitution of the villa, citing a law covering works of art confiscated during the Holocaust. [9] The reason for this application appears to have been their frustration over the failure of the municipality of Brno to carry out vital restoration work due to the deterioration of the concrete used in construction. [1] Entire sections of the interior were missing. Later, parts of the original wood panelling were found at Masaryk University, a building used by the Gestapo as their Brno headquarters. [4]

Reconstruction and restoration started in February 2010 with estimated costs of 150 million CZK (approximately EUR 5,769,000; US$7,895,000). [10] This reconstruction finished in February 2012 and the villa was reopened to the public in March. [6] To celebrate the villa's restoration, the Royal Institute of British Architects launched 'Villa Tugendhat in Context', an exhibition in London giving a visual history and a record of the recent renovation through the testimony of three generations of photographers. [4]

Near Villa Tugendhat is Greta's family home, the Art Nouveau Löw-Beer Villa (now a branch of the Museum of the Brno Region), which will present an exhibition The World of the Brno Bourgeoisie around the Löw-Beers and Tugendhat. [11]

The villa was a principal location in the 2007 film Hannibal Rising , serving as the villa of the villain, Vladis Gutas. Simon Mawer's 2009 Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, The Glass Room , is a fictional account of a house inspired by the villa. [12] A film based in part on the novel, The Affair , was shot at the villa and released in 2019. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludwig Mies van der Rohe</span> German-American architect (1886–1969)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Onyx</span> Banded variety

Onyx is the parallel-banded variety of chalcedony, an oxide mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands; agate has curved bands while onyx has parallel bands. The colors of its bands range from black to almost every color. Specimens of onyx commonly contain bands of black and/or white. Onyx, as a descriptive term, has also been applied to parallel-banded varieties of alabaster, marble, calcite, obsidian, and opal, and misleadingly to materials with contorted banding, such as "cave onyx" and "Mexican onyx".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Functionalism (architecture)</span> Principle that defines a type of architecture

In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. An international functionalist architecture movement emerged in the wake of World War I, as part of the wave of Modernism. Its ideas were largely inspired by a desire to build a new and better world for the people, as broadly and strongly expressed by the social and political movements of Europe after the extremely devastating world war. In this respect, functionalist architecture is often linked with the ideas of socialism and modern humanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Farnese</span> Mansion in Caprarola, Italy

The Villa Farnese, also known as Villa Caprarola, is a pentagonal mansion in the town of Caprarola in the province of Viterbo, Northern Lazio, Italy, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-west of Rome, originally commissioned and owned by the House of Farnese. A property of the Republic of Italy, Villa Farnese is run by the Polo Museale del Lazio. This villa is not to be confused with two similarly-named properties of the family, the Palazzo Farnese and the Villa Farnesina, both in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dancing House</span> Building in Prague, Czech Republic

The Dancing House, or Ginger and Fred, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Milunić in cooperation with Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry on a vacant riverfront plot. The building was designed in 1992. The construction, carried out by BESIX, was completed four years later in 1996.

Ernst Tugendhat was a Czechoslovakian-born German philosopher. He was a scion of the wealthy and influential Jewish Tugendhat family. They lived in Venezuela during the Nazi regime, and he studied first in Stanford University, then in Freiburg. He taught internationally in Europa and South America, with a focus on language analysis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Josef Hoffmann</span> Austrian architect (1870–1956)

Josef Hoffmann was an Austrian-Moravian architect and designer. He was among the founders of Vienna Secession and co-establisher of the Wiener Werkstätte. His most famous architectural work is the Stoclet Palace, in Brussels, (1905–1911) a pioneering work of Modern Architecture, Art Deco and peak of Vienna Secession architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Müller</span>

The Villa Müller is a Modernist villa in Prague, Czech Republic built in 1930. It was designed by Adolf Loos as a residence for František Müller, co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company from Pilsen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Cavrois</span> Modernist mansion by Robert Mallet-Stevens

Villa Cavrois in Croix is a large modernist mansion built in 1932 by French architect Robert Mallet-Stevens for Paul Cavrois, an industrialist from Roubaix active in the textile industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haus Lange and Haus Esters</span> Buildings by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Haus Lange and Haus Esters are two residential houses designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Krefeld, Germany, for German industrialists Hermann Lange and Josef Esters. They were built between 1928 and 1930 in the Bauhaus style. The houses have now been converted into museums for Contemporary art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brno Exhibition Centre</span>

Brno Exhibition Center is a convention centre based in Brno, Czech Republic. It was established in 1928. The centre occupies a site on 667,000 square metres (7,180,000 sq ft) and provides a total net exhibition area of 125,496 square metres (1,350,830 sq ft) including open-air space and exhibition halls with an exhibition area of 61,479 square metres (661,750 sq ft). The centre has 15 exhibition halls with a visitor capacity of 25,000–30,000 a day. The number of visitors per year grew to 780,000 in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Majorelle</span>

The Villa Majorelle is a house located at 1 rue Louis-Majorielle in the city of Nancy, France, which was the home and studio of the furniture designer Louis Majorelle. It was designed and built by the architect Henri Sauvage in 1901-1902. The villa is one of the first and most influential examples of the Art Nouveau architectural style in France. It served as a showcase for Majorelle's furniture and the work of other noted decorative artists of the period, including ceramist Alexandre Bigot and stained glass artist Jacques Gruber. It is now owned by the city of Nancy, and is open to the public certain days for tours by reservation.

<i>The Glass Room</i> Novel by British author Simon Mawer

The Glass Room, by British author Simon Mawer, was published in 2009 by Other Press in the United States and Little Brown in the United Kingdom. It was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Lanna</span>

Villa Lanna is a Neo-Renaissance landmark building located in a residential quarter of Bubeneč in Prague 6, Czech Republic. It is a property of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and is used for representative purposes such as scientific symposia, jubilee festivals and also as a hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trmal Villa</span> Villa in Prague designed in 1902 by the Czech architect Jan Kotěra

Trmal Villa is a villa in Prague designed in 1902 by the Czech architect Jan Kotěra in the English Modernist style. The villa has been restored, and is now a museum and cultural centre open to the public and for research. Its architect has been described as the "founder of modern Czech architecture".

<i>The Affair</i> (2019 film) 2019 film

The Affair is a 2019 Czech drama film directed by Julius Ševčík. It stars Hanna Alström, Karel Roden and Carice van Houten. It is based on The Glass Room, a novel by Simon Mawer, which tells the story of a fictional house based on the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic, where the movie was filmed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czech architecture</span>

Czech architecture, or more precisely architecture of the Czech Republic or architecture of Czechia, is a term covering many important historical and contemporary architectural movements in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. From its early beginnings to the present day, almost all historical styles are represented, including many monuments from various historical periods. Some of them are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Villa Wolf</span> Architecturally significant building in Gubin, Poland

Villa Wolf was an architecturally significant building in Gubin, Poland, designed by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It is also known as Haus Wolf. The property was developed in Guben, Germany, between 1925 and 1926 – two decades before the Oder–Neisse line divided the city to create Gubin – for Erich and Elisabeth Wolf. It was one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe, and is considered the first modern work of Mies van der Rohe. It stood between two gardens parallel to the Lusatian Neisse river at Teichbornstraße 13 in today's Gubin, which at that time still belonged to Guben, but is now located in the Polish part of Lower Lusatia. It was destroyed during World War II in 1945 and there are plans to reconstruct it.

Open House Brno (OHB) is a free weekend festival held annually in Brno that allows participants to visit dozens of buildings that are not typically open to the public. Every visit is free of charge. It is part of a worldwide network of Open House events, that started with Open House London in 1992,in 2003 followed Open House New York and other cities as for example later in 2011 Open House Chicago.

Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat is an Austrian art historian. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela to a family of wealthy, Jewish textile manufacturers from Brno, who had fled the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II. When the war ended, the family unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim their property in Czechoslovakia and settled in St. Gallen, Switzerland in 1950. Influenced by her mother's love of art, Hammer-Tugendhat studied art history and archeology at the University of Bern and University of Vienna. After completing her PhD in 1975, she began teaching at the University of Applied Arts Vienna‎, where she remained until her retirement in 2012.

References

  1. 1 2 Courland, Robert. Concrete Planet. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY. (2012) p. 326. ISBN   978-1-61614-481-4
  2. "Tugendhat Villa in Brno". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  3. The Structure Villa Tugendhat.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 THE COMMISSIONERS, http://www.tugendhat.eu/en/the-commissioners-.html
  5. Macarthy, Fiona (2 November 2012). "The Glass Room restored". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Alice Rawsthorn: "Reopening a Mies Modernist Landmark", in The New York Times, 24 February 2012
  7. 1 2 Sarah Boxer (21 August 2004), Mies Villa, Jostled by History, Is in a Race Against Time New York Times .
  8. "Před 20 lety Klaus s Mečiarem dohodli rozdělení Československa" [20 years ago Klaus and Mečiar agreed the division of Czechoslovakia]. Czech Radio . 26 August 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  9. Rendon, Jim (22 March 2007). "A Mies Masterwork, Deteriorating and in Dispute". The New York Times . New York, New York. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
  10. TS Brno (2 February 2010). "Ve vystěhované vile Tugendhat začne rekonstrukce". ČT24 official website (in Czech).
  11. "The Löw-Beer Villa".
  12. Vaughan, David (5 July 2010). "Simon Mawer talks about The Glass Room". radio.cz. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  13. Ehrlich, David (5 March 2021). "'The Affair' Review: Carice van Houten Carries a Generic Melodrama About a Remarkable House". IndieWire. Retrieved 25 September 2021.

Documentaries