VP19: Villa, Palladio and the Nineteenth Century

Kotěrovo center – Trmal's villa is hosting an exhibition “VP19: Villa, Palladio, and the Nineteenth Century”. The exhibition will run from August 6 to September 7, 2009, and is set in the picturesque surroundings of Trmal's villa in Prague's Strašnice.

    The presented synthetic exhibition dares to introduce today's viewer to a somewhat hidden side of the history of architecture and housing. Today's person is referred by museum institutions and the historicisms of contemporary architecture to functionalist or other avant-garde architectures as ideals of life and living.
    However, long before that, different spirits, aesthetic values, and lifestyles inhabited the walls of human dwellings.
    The distinct style of Andrea Palladio became a cornerstone for the historicisms and classicisms of the entire 19th century, as Palladian elements and entire buildings inspired the level of housing and general aesthetic feeling in architecture. Palladian architecture became an opponent of romantic architecture and Gothic reminiscences. Like every great figure, Palladianism had significant enemies among theorists who went against the current of the classical canon, as well as among "reformers" of housing from social concepts. However, Palladio significantly contributed to the shape of the rural villa of the 19th century with his work.