Villa Prague-Troja
The Ťoupalík villa on Nádvorní street in Prague's Troja was designed in 1935 by architect Václav Ittner in a progressive functionalist style. The construction was realized in the same year.
The villa is not particularly extensive or exceptional; however, its unpretentious simplicity precisely corresponds to the innovative ideological trend of the time, emphasizing timelessness, practicality, economy, and pure elegance.
The house, with puristically clear façades and a flat roof, is positioned on the western slope above the Vltava Valley. The main façades face west and south. A risalit protrudes from the compact cubic structure of the house in its southern part, topped with a terrace offering an impressive view of the Prague skyline.
The space-saving villa, with an almost square floor plan, has one basement and three above-ground floors, connected by a staircase located in the northwest part of the house.
Originally, the basement was intended for storage, the ground floor comprised a living room, kitchen, and maid's room, while the upper floor contained a room with a bedroom and bathroom. The highest floor originally housed technical rooms - a laundry room and drying room, which were subsequently converted into living spaces.
The house is surrounded by a not very extensive but pleasant, slightly sloping garden, which directly adjoins the area of the Prague Botanical Gardens from the north and east.
The current owner purchased the villa in a relatively neglected state from the direct descendants of the original builder in 2014, intending to sensitively adapt the house so that it could serve contemporary living for their family while preserving its period character.
The main idea of the reconstruction design was respect for the place and respect for the house. The new additions that expand the house's utilization have no intention of competing with or dominating the existing structure, but rather quietly accompany its clean elegance.
The classic problem of functionalist buildings - the absence of a coatroom at the entrance - was resolved by extending the hallway at the ground floor level with a newly designed cubic bay window, protruding from the northern façade. The living room was connected to the kitchen and extended with a glass extension for a dining room, adding necessary dimension to the main living space and plenty of sunlight from the south, ensuring direct connection with the garden. The dining room extension is directly followed by a covered terrace, forming the most intimate part of the outdoor space. The living area of the top floor was expanded by a glass extension facing the roof terrace.
Although modern systems, constructions, and materials were used in the modifications of the house, the effort was to empathize with the thinking of the functionalists of the time and to speak their language; not to aim for literal citations, but rather for new formulations of similar ideas. Classic materials such as fine-grained plaster, windows with wooden and metal frames, titanium-zinc sheet metal, unpolished stainless steel elements, stone paving, oak parquet, and white ceramic cladding were used.
A complication during the construction work was the discovery of the usual flaw of interwar buildings: poor-quality materials and construction elements. In this case, it primarily concerned the foundations, concrete ceiling structures, and the walls of some sections, whose remediation or replacement required significant time and investment costs. Another requirement was to cultivate the placement of mobile operator equipment on the roof of the building.
The interior design draws from functionalist principles and traditions transformed into a new language. The interior is fully designed from atypical interior elements according to the author’s design with typical accessories, emphasizing the quality of the materials used and the details of the workmanship.
A challenging task was the design of a garage for two vehicles, ensuring it did not compete with the existing building or diminish the relatively small plot. The volumetrically more suitable and functionalism-better-aligned solution from the original proposal, featuring a completely recessed garage below the ground level, accessible via a sloped ramp, was ultimately replaced with a less demanding solution of a partially recessed garage adjacent to the fencing.
The garage is constructed of exposed structured concrete.
The originally designed full fencing made of tiered elements of structured exposed concrete was replaced, after futile attempts at agreement with the Prague Botanical Gardens, by obligatory steel mesh. All exterior base walls and retaining walls are made of exposed structured concrete, unifying with the garage.
The terrain staircase and walkways are made of cast brushed concrete.
The villa is not particularly extensive or exceptional; however, its unpretentious simplicity precisely corresponds to the innovative ideological trend of the time, emphasizing timelessness, practicality, economy, and pure elegance.
The house, with puristically clear façades and a flat roof, is positioned on the western slope above the Vltava Valley. The main façades face west and south. A risalit protrudes from the compact cubic structure of the house in its southern part, topped with a terrace offering an impressive view of the Prague skyline.
The space-saving villa, with an almost square floor plan, has one basement and three above-ground floors, connected by a staircase located in the northwest part of the house.
Originally, the basement was intended for storage, the ground floor comprised a living room, kitchen, and maid's room, while the upper floor contained a room with a bedroom and bathroom. The highest floor originally housed technical rooms - a laundry room and drying room, which were subsequently converted into living spaces.
The house is surrounded by a not very extensive but pleasant, slightly sloping garden, which directly adjoins the area of the Prague Botanical Gardens from the north and east.
The current owner purchased the villa in a relatively neglected state from the direct descendants of the original builder in 2014, intending to sensitively adapt the house so that it could serve contemporary living for their family while preserving its period character.
The main idea of the reconstruction design was respect for the place and respect for the house. The new additions that expand the house's utilization have no intention of competing with or dominating the existing structure, but rather quietly accompany its clean elegance.
The classic problem of functionalist buildings - the absence of a coatroom at the entrance - was resolved by extending the hallway at the ground floor level with a newly designed cubic bay window, protruding from the northern façade. The living room was connected to the kitchen and extended with a glass extension for a dining room, adding necessary dimension to the main living space and plenty of sunlight from the south, ensuring direct connection with the garden. The dining room extension is directly followed by a covered terrace, forming the most intimate part of the outdoor space. The living area of the top floor was expanded by a glass extension facing the roof terrace.
Although modern systems, constructions, and materials were used in the modifications of the house, the effort was to empathize with the thinking of the functionalists of the time and to speak their language; not to aim for literal citations, but rather for new formulations of similar ideas. Classic materials such as fine-grained plaster, windows with wooden and metal frames, titanium-zinc sheet metal, unpolished stainless steel elements, stone paving, oak parquet, and white ceramic cladding were used.
A complication during the construction work was the discovery of the usual flaw of interwar buildings: poor-quality materials and construction elements. In this case, it primarily concerned the foundations, concrete ceiling structures, and the walls of some sections, whose remediation or replacement required significant time and investment costs. Another requirement was to cultivate the placement of mobile operator equipment on the roof of the building.
The interior design draws from functionalist principles and traditions transformed into a new language. The interior is fully designed from atypical interior elements according to the author’s design with typical accessories, emphasizing the quality of the materials used and the details of the workmanship.
A challenging task was the design of a garage for two vehicles, ensuring it did not compete with the existing building or diminish the relatively small plot. The volumetrically more suitable and functionalism-better-aligned solution from the original proposal, featuring a completely recessed garage below the ground level, accessible via a sloped ramp, was ultimately replaced with a less demanding solution of a partially recessed garage adjacent to the fencing.
The garage is constructed of exposed structured concrete.
The originally designed full fencing made of tiered elements of structured exposed concrete was replaced, after futile attempts at agreement with the Prague Botanical Gardens, by obligatory steel mesh. All exterior base walls and retaining walls are made of exposed structured concrete, unifying with the garage.
The terrain staircase and walkways are made of cast brushed concrete.
The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
1 comment
add comment
Subject
Author
Date
Popelka
13.09.18 05:29
show all comments
