Jablonec exceptionally opened Kantor's villa, architects presented the renovation proposal

Jablonec nad Nisou - Jablonec nad Nisou today exceptionally opened the functionalist Kantor Villa on Palackého street to the public, which the city purchased in 2017 for 8.121 million crowns. The town hall is preparing the restoration of the listed building, aiming to make it accessible to the public. For now, it is only occasionally accessible or to pre-arranged groups, with operations managed by Kultura Jablonec, said the Deputy Mayor Jana Hamplová (Mayors for the Liberec Region) to ČTK.

The house was built in 1934 according to a design by Heinrich Kulka, a student and close collaborator of the modern architecture classic Adolf Loos. The villa, located near the Jablonec reservoir, was commissioned by the doctor Alfréd Kantor and is one of the most valuable examples of this style in the region. The four-story house resembles the famous Müller Villa in Prague. Although it underwent an insensitive transformation into apartments in the 1960s, it still retains many preserved original elements designed by Kulka.

The city announced an architectural competition for the villa's reconstruction. "We were looking for a team that is capable of reconstructing the house, but also a curator and essentially an artist or someone who can interpret the stories that we want to tell visitors through this villa. It is both the story of the Kantor family who lived here, and of course, it is the story of architect Kulka. And it is also a story of Jablonec in that troubled time when the house was built and subsequently only very briefly used by its original owner," added Deputy Jakub Chuchlík (Pirates).

A total of 28 studios and ateliers applied for the revitalization design competition, with five advancing to the final round. The winning proposal came from the Prague studio Objektor architekti, which was presented in the villa today by Jakub Červenka. "We will strive to save everything that has remained here and was designed by architect Kulka. We will return it to its original condition with maximum care and restore it, handling it as gently as possible. Unfortunately, not much has survived; the interventions in the 1960s were quite drastic," said the architect.

According to Chuchlík, the city hopes to start the revitalization work next year and utilize European subsidies from the ITI program of the Liberec-Jablonec agglomeration, potentially obtaining over 42 million crowns. The villa is expected to open to the public in 2026, including the garden, which will be transformed into a public space. The ground floor of the house will serve as a social space connected to the garden, the original garage will be used as a lecture hall, children's rooms will function as educational spaces, and the top floor with a terrace will become an exhibition area.