The case of the reconstruction of the Tugendhat villa

Just as Bilbao has its Guggenheim Museum, Brno has the Tugendhat Villa. The only Czech UNESCO monument in the field of modern architecture attracts numerous prominent world architects to Brno every year, who want to experience Mies's flow of space firsthand. However, the attitude of the monument's owner is ambivalent. On one hand, they use the villa for their representation, while on the other hand, they neglect the necessary professional architectural care.
      This contradiction culminated in the act of evaluating a business competition for the selection of a designer for the villa's reconstruction. The lucrative construction contract was too tempting for many companies and politicians. Objective evaluation of the tender took a back seat, and the construction lobby began to deal the cards. The carousel of millions spun at one point to an astounding figure of 200 for the general reconstruction of the villa. Subsequent legal disputes complicated the smooth course of the reconstruction and were often purposefully misused against their participants.
      The team of architects Sapák-Škrabal-Grym became the arch-enemy of the octopus, whose tentacles, as became evident during the dispute, reach into nearly all areas of the state administration. Currently, there is a growing public impression that the Tugendhat Villa reconstruction case is resolved. A mysterious conference for invited guests, which took place in June of this year, "sanctioned" the unlawfully commissioned project for the villa's reconstruction. The city tried to resolve the long-standing case indirectly, but it did not solve its essence. The dispute is not over. On one side stands the bureaucracy we pay for, which took an evidently unlawful step, and on the other, a trio of architects trying to assert their rights. We spoke with architect Jan Sapák about the history of the case and its possible future.