Villa Tugendhat

                            A journey to Brno by - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

I was fortunate to learn of Villa Tugendhat through a reporting by Alice Rawsthorn entitled “Reopening a Mies Modernist Landmark” in the “The New York Times” dated February 24, 2012. The villa was built for Fritz and Greta Tugendhat’s by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. House owners were from rich Jewish families of industrialists and businessman from Germany working in the textiles industries decided in staying permanently in Brno then in Czechoslovakia. The big plot of land was part of property of Greta’s parents the Low Beer villa sloping down towards west from the main road has beautiful and magnificent view of historic skyline of medieval Brno, where about fifty years ago Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) founder of science of Genetics studied and wrote his historic Pea plant experiments in St. Thomas Abbey.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) had basic training in his German father’s stone carving shop was Dutch from his mother’s side. Mies joined in a studio of Bruno Paul as draughtsman for around four years from 1908. The three great 20^th century Architects besides Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) were Le Corbusier (1887-1965) of Swiss- French origin, Walter Gropius (1883-1969) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe worked together as architect for a brief period on 1910-11 in the office in Berlin of Peter Behrens (1868-1940) who was part of modernist movement. Walter Gropius the German architect is considered founder of Bauhaus school and Mies subsequently formed their office. Mies settled in Chicago and Gropius in Harvard University left in 1938. Both settled in USA and pursue their carriers in architecture and teaching.

Design of the German pavilion for the Barcelona World Exposition in1929, which was pulled down but rebuilt in 1986 as a building of merit has already made his mark as radical architect of the 20^th century with design principle of “Less is More”. This may have influenced Fritz and Greta Tugendhat to appoint him as their architect. The brief was precise and specific may be with little or no financial considerations. This induces Mies in his early 40s to design the living spaces with radical abundance through an open plan. This unique work of art with its spatial arrangement, interior furnishing, new and modern technical features, and merged with the natural environment.

Alfred Low-Beer gave his daughter Greta the plot with its marvelous panoramic setting for a scheduled visit of the architect to the site in September 1928. By New Year’s Eve the architect’s vision with finance playing no significant role is reflected in the completed project drawings as prepared and discussed in the architect’s studio. In the words of Greta , we asked about the small crosses at five meters apart in a huge room with one circular and freestanding wall, which we were told as steel columns to support the entire structure. For the first time in the history of architecture a residential house was built with 29 numbers of steel columns of a unique cross profile with riveting L profiles, Italian travertine, onyx from the foothills of the Atlas in northern Morocco, Rosewood, Zebra wood and Macassar ebony from South east Asia. At that time private house of steel structure is completely new in concept.

The permission to build on owner’s application dated April 1929 was granted on the 26^th of October 1929. The completed house on 45 Cernopolni Street for exclusive use of Greta Tugendhat was granted on 1^st December 1930. Construction was executed by the brothers of local contractors Brno Construction Company of Arthur and Moric Eisler. Besides the brothers, Interior designer Lilly Reich and garden implementer Marketa- Roderova - Mullerova were involved.

The three storied detached building with main entrance from the road is situated in a vestibule behind the arch of a milk glazed wall. It is of very simple planning of creating living space is very much revolutionary in concept and execution. Entrance is through third floor, may be called the bed room floor with bed rooms of the owners, children’s and guests on the south side detached by terraces from the garage and Chauffer’s suite on the north. The wide staircase from the central hall leads to second floor of huge area with dining, living, study, pantry, kitchen, storage and servant’s rooms and other areas. The west side has 10mm thick, mirror plate glass wall which entirely slides down to first with electric motor to look out over the garden and beyond. The huge area with a small spiral staircase and dumb waiter is divided into areas with velvet curtain and Onyx wall is to change colors with light.

The first floor, which is called technical floor has boiler room and storage for coke, the cellar, hot air heating and cooling system, store for garden furniture now used as exhibition - auditorium, motor room for operating sliding window, drying and ironing room now it is used as exhibition and book shop, storm water reservoir and laundry room and dark room and moth chamber. Villa is equipped with an electric eye at the entrance besides the other safety signaling systems.

The result is one of the brilliantly conceived ideas and materially used in as door stopper, door and window handles as designed by Walter Gropius and lighting fixtures in some areas as designed by Poul Henningsen. The house was equipped with a collection of furniture, like armchairs and reclining chairs primarily being designed by Mies for the Tugendhat.  Part of the built in works was built by local builders. Architect and designer Lilly Reich’s has the contribution to the look of the interiors. Owners were fond of the part of art work of the Villa including The Observing Female Torso by German Expressionist Wilhelm Lehmbruck.

Owners enjoyed their stay in the building but only for about eight years and left for St. Gallen in Switzerland in May 1938 before the Nazi invasion and annexation of Austria in 1938. In January 1941 for further safety Tugendhat family left for Caracas in Venezuela. The house was confiscated by the Gestapo on early October 1939 and became the property of the German Reich from January 1942. By this time the curved inner wall of Makassar ebony has already been removed along with the majority of the furniture.

The cavalry unit of the Red army of Marshal Malinovsky devastated the house during the liberation of Brno in April 1945. Red army liberated Czechoslovakia in 1944 and the

Communist era continued from 1948 to1989. It uses the first and second floor as stable for army horses. Woods of the remaining furniture served as fuel, while the linoleum on the floors destroyed by the hoofs of the horses. Dancing and rhythm school of Karla Hladka continue to function from August 1945 up to June 1950. The structure was placed under the ownership of the Czechoslovak state in October 1950 and a rehabilitation centre for children with spine defects was established with the control of the nearby children’s hospital.

Greta who lived at the time in St. Gallen, Switzerland returned to the Villa for the first time after twenty nine years, has to say that I was horrified by the state of the house and changes in construction which have been carried out are awful and nobody would be able to imagine that this can be considered a special construction work.

An exhibition on the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took place in the Brno House of Arts in December 1968 and January 1969. Greta with architect Dirk Lohan Grandson of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe also visited Brno at this time. Mies’s Chicago studio was prepared to coordinate renewal work of the structure. The political situation of socialist Czechoslovakia however changed dramatically after the Soviet occupation in 1968. This less than sympathetic atmosphere along with the deaths of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

(1969), Greta Tugendhat (1970) brought all considerations regarding renewal work on the villa to a halt for a number of years.

The first Renewal and Reconstruction work on the villa was carried out over the years in 1981-1985 by the State Institute for Reconstruction of Historical Towns and Buildings in Brno which served for gala events for the city and occasional accommodation of guests. It was not open to public.

After the Czechoslovak Velvet Revolution in November 1989, Villa Tugendhat was briefly made accessible to the public while remaining a government building. At that time it was under democratic Czechoslovakia from 1989 to1992. Brno is at easy distance in between Prague and Bratislava which resulted in political negotiations regarding the separation of Czechoslovakia took place in Villa. It is to witness the signing and creation of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in January 1993 under its roof and in the garden. In July 1994 it was placed under the administration of the Brno City Museum and in August 1995 the Villa was declared a National Cultural Museum.

UNESCO designated Villa Tugendhat as a World Cultural Heritage in December 2001. Reconstruction and restoration started in February 2010. The old roofing assembly was replaced and waterproofing of the entire surface of the roof carried out. All non original built in walls and brick walls were removed. The cladding of the columns and onyx wall was cleaned. Certain elements were specially produced for villa, like original linoleum floor surface of DLW. The original veneered Makassar ebony of the original built in book shelf was removed from the villa in 1940. Major part of it served as cladding for another Brno building until 2011. This authentic element has since returned to its rightful place after demands has been made on the part of the restorers.

The project organizers are the City of Brno, Brno University of Technology, Architecture Faculty and the Brno City Museum as partners. Overall cost amounted to approximately 180 million Czech crowns. The built up area is 907 sq m, the main living area is 237 sq m and area of the garden is 5650 sq m.

It reopened in March 2012 for visitors with all furniture and fixtures as planned and built more than eighty years ago. The response is to see with personal visit.

People who visualize and create art and architecture are scared of misuse of their creation over the years. In the case of buildings, which are planned and built for specific purpose of use of the owners. More than eighty years old Villa Tugendhat was built exclusively for residential use only which they had the benefit of enjoyment for eight years only. Rest of its subsistence it accommodated people of varied taste and used it for their specific purpose. The goodness of design and structure is the hallmark of good architecture which witnesses time and withstand the ravages of people “less said is better”.

February 2017.