ČT commemorates the anniversary of architect Jurkovič with a new documentary

Brno - The December 60th anniversary of the death of the famous Slovak architect Dušan Jurkovič is commemorated by the Brno studio of Czech Television with a new, nearly hour-long documentary directed by Jaroslav Bařinka. The film presents Jurkovič’s work through the eyes of art historians, architects, descendants, and people who today own or inhabit his buildings inspired by folk culture. Emphasis is also placed on the projects that Jurkovič left in Brno, where he lived and worked for a long time, the authors of the documentary said to journalists today.
The main part of the film is devoted to the period of Jurkovič's life between building wooden structures in the Beskids' Pustevny and constructing the mound of Milan Rastislav Štefánik in the Little Carpathians' Bradlo. "We did not want to create a catalog of the master’s work. We were searching for an answer to the question of how Jurkovič's life and work speaks to us and what it means for us today," the director told ČTK. The result of the documentary filmmakers' search can be seen in the premiere on Saturday, December 8, at 10:30 PM.
Slovak Dušan Samo Jurkovič (1868 to 1947) is considered one of the most significant architects who worked in the Czech lands at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He uniquely combined Art Nouveau and other modern styles with the tradition of folk architecture. In addition to the buildings in Pustevny, he became famous for spa facilities in Luhačovice and renovations of the castle in Nové Město nad Metují. An important chapter is dedicated to the villa in Brno-Žabovřesky, which Jurkovič designed for his own needs and briefly inhabited. The building is set to undergo a demanding reconstruction costing around 40 million crowns, during which it will be restored to its original condition. According to representatives of the Moravian Gallery, which acquired the building from a private owner for 15 million crowns, it is likely to open to the public in 2010.
A significant Brno monument to Jurkovič is also the facility of the women's educational association Vesna. The architect equipped, for example, the dormitory rooms and other spaces of the association's headquarters, which preserves the remaining parts of the original furnishings as a reminder of the beginnings of its activities and is seeking funds for restoration, said the current chairwoman of Vesna, Hana Zlatušková, to ČTK.
As an architectural innovator, Jurkovič also had opponents in his time. Part of the documentary is dedicated to his disputes with Professor Karel Hugo Kepka of the Brno University of Technology, the author of other award-winning buildings, such as the town hall in Prostějov or the Art Nouveau church in Brno-Husovice.