Brno: The unused Wiesner villa Stiassny will serve new purposes

Brno - The Brno Government Villa Stiassny, which is currently unused, will become a documentation center dedicated to the reconstruction of 20th-century monuments by next year. It should also serve for representation purposes for the South Moravian Region and Brno. CTK was informed of this today by the director of the Brno Heritage Institute, Petr Kroupa. He specified that the state should transfer the villa to the heritage protectors by the summer.
    Long negotiations regarding the transfer have been dragging on since October 2007, when it was approved by the government. In recent days, the leadership of the institute signed documents for the transfer. It still needs to be approved by the Ministry of Culture. According to Kroupa, the government villa Stiassny will be open for a week free of charge for monument lovers within a month after the transfer.
    The heritage protectors want to use the winter to modify the villa. In addition to making it accessible to the public, they also plan to establish a center that will preserve documentation and provide information on the reconstruction of monuments from the last century. Repairing these buildings requires entirely different procedures than restoring classical historical sites.
    The heritage protectors will offer spaces in the villa to the region and Brno for occasional representative events. These spaces are mainly lacking for the South Moravian Region. There are also plans for the commercial rental of part of the building.
    The functionalist villa was built in 1927 according to the design of architect Arnošt Wiesner for textile industrialist Alfred Stiassny. During the occupation, it was confiscated from its original owners by the Gestapo, and after the war, it remained state property. In addition to Czechoslovak presidents, Fidel Castro also lived there. According to experts, the Brno Government Villa is as interesting as the most famous functionalist building in Brno - Villa Tugendhat.