The exhibition of Baťa architecture was seen by 4,900 people in Zlín

Zlín - The exhibition Phenomenon Baťa - Zlín Architecture 1910 - 1960 ended today at the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín. Since the opening in April, it has been seen by approximately 4,900 visitors. The exhibits attracted great interest; people praised them, said the curator of the exhibition, Ladislava Horňáková, to ČTK today. Zlín was the third place where the exhibition was shown, after the Prague Exhibition Hall and the Pinakothek of Modern Art in Munich.
    Due to limited space, the Zlín exhibition was reduced to about one-third. Parts oriented toward a general introduction to the scope of the Baťa company's activities, its production, and the unprecedented development of Zlín during the interwar period, as well as the overall environment of the city in the past and present, were omitted. In Moravia, the exhibits mainly included artifacts, photographs, and plans documenting the unique urban concept of Baťa’s Zlín in the first half of the 20th century.
    "We had 13 models and about 200 photographs. Visitors were particularly interested in satellites and the expansion of the Baťa company. There was also an interest in the catalog. Since it was published in English as well, many foreigners bought it. Many witnesses of the Baťa era, who live in various corners of the Czech Republic, also came to Zlín," stated Horňáková. She added that some of the exhibited items will move permanently to the National Gallery in Prague, while others are expected to be placed in the Zlín gallery after its relocation to the former Svět premises.
    The architectural and urban development of modern Zlín before World War II, associated with the names of František Gahura, Vladimír Karfík, and Jan Kotěra, continues to be a subject of admiration among experts.
    Half-brothers Tomáš and Jan Antonín Baťa, who transformed the family shoemaking business into a global corporation, also turned the originally small Moravian town into a vibrant industrial center characterized, among other things, by modern architecture, a large amount of greenery, and a well-thought-out system of civic amenities.
    Zlín expanded with new residential neighborhoods featuring houses for working-class families, as well as school and healthcare complexes. In the city center, a huge department store and the largest cinema in the then Czechoslovakia were built.