...lepší architektura i života - výstava ve vile Stiassni

The National Heritage Institute, the Methodical Center for Modern Architecture in Brno, together with the Museum of Romani Culture, invites you to the next exhibition in the series about 20th-century architecture. It is dedicated to the interwar work of the Mühlstein & Fürth studio, particularly one of their buildings – the villa of Lea František Perutz in Prague's Dejvice.
Ernst Mühlstein was among the most talented students of the founder of Czech modern architecture, Jan Kotěra. In the early 1920s, he established a joint studio with Victor Fürth. Initially, their work was influenced by Kotěra's modernism and German expressionism, later they also created in the progressive functionalist style. Due to their Jewish origin, the architects had to flee before the war, later working in Great Britain and the USA (Fürth) and Australia (Mühlstein). The title "...better architecture and life" also refers to the pedagogical work of architect Victor Fürth in exile. Nevertheless, the war did not sever their mutual cooperation. The architects never returned to Czechoslovakia. However, a number of their outstanding buildings remained here, primarily in the area of Prague.
Among them is also the family villa on Velvarská street in Prague's Dejvice. It was built for Ing. Lea František Perutz. This textile entrepreneur of Jewish origin perished in the Auschwitz concentration camp. The house had a remarkable fate later on. As the author of the exhibition and art historian Petra Svobodová explains, “in recent years, the building was not permanently inhabited and was most often used as a film set; for example, the popular Czech comedy Women in Temptation was filmed here. The museum's acquisition of the villa will create space for community gatherings, educational programs, cultural performances, and the presentation of exhibition projects, including the theme of the Romani Holocaust.”
In fact, in 2019, the Museum of Romani Culture took over the management of the functionalist building. A fourth branch of the museum – the Center for Roma and Sinti in Prague – will operate in the reconstructed villa starting in 2024.
The opening will take place on April 25, 2023, at 5 PM in the lecture and exhibition building of MCMA in Brno, in the area of the Stiassni villa. The guided tour will be led by the author of the exhibition, Petra Svobodová.