Repair of the Loos Apartment in Pilsen will compete for the EU Cultural Award

Plzeň - The reconstruction of one of the pioneering interiors by the world-renowned architect Adolf Loos will be entered by Plzeň into the prestigious international competition The European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage Europa Nostra. The apartment at Bendova Street number 10 was created by Loos between 1930 and 1931 for the chemical expert Vilém Kraus and his wife Gertruda. The city completed the apartment renovation last year, said the mayor's deputy Martin Baxa (ODS) to ČTK.
    The renovation of the apartment cost 7.2 million crowns, and an additional 800,000 crowns were spent on modifying parts of the common areas of the building. The apartment is one of the most attractive of Loos's realizations in Plzeň. It features rare marble cladding, opposing mirrored walls, and comfortably designed built-in furniture. It is a typical example of Loos's handwriting. During the renovation, distinctly green windows were found, which do not appear in other Loos apartments, as well as a safe cleverly hidden in wooden paneling. Even though the heritage protectors had keys to it, they could not find it for several years.
    The city organization Plzeň - TURISMUS, which has been operating tours through Loos's interiors since this year, is preparing an application for the competition based on a suggestion from the Brussels office of the Europa Nostra project, Baxa said. The Europa Nostra Prize has a tradition of over fifty years and is referred to as the heritage preservation Oscar. In the Czech Republic, it has previously been awarded for the restoration of the Český Krumlov castle, the conservation and presentation project of the Bečov nad Teplou castle, or historian Tomáš Durdík. In 2016, up to 30 projects and initiatives will receive the award, and up to seven of them will be selected for the Grand Prix winners and will receive 10,000 euros.
    The owner of the apartment on Bendova Street, Kraus, left for England in 1939 to prepare a background for his family. His wife and children did not manage to emigrate in time and perished in extermination camps. The house was confiscated by the Germans, and from 1954 it was under national administration; Plzeň acquired it in 1994. Loos obtained his first commission in Plzeň in 1907 and worked there, with interruptions, until his death in 1933. He carried out the reconstruction of the Brummel House on Husova Street and another 13 apartment interiors mainly for wealthy investors from the local Jewish community. Eight interiors have survived, which experts consider to be an extremely valuable collection even in the context of European architecture of the 20th century. After Vienna, Plzeň has the second most complete collection of Loos's realizations. This year, Plzeň offered tours of some interiors. Although the tours are for a limited number of people and only three days a week, there is a great deal of interest. So far, more than 7,000 people have seen them, said the director of Plzeň - TURISMUS, Zuzana Koubíková.