The renovation of the Tugendhat villa will not begin this year

Brno - The restoration of the dilapidated Tugendhat villa, which is the only Czech building of modern art listed in the UNESCO register, will likely begin no sooner than next year. This was stated today by Brno's Deputy Mayor Daniel Rychnovský to ČTK and Lidové noviny. At the end of last year, Mayor Roman Onderka predicted that the heritage restoration would begin in the second quarter of this year. However, according to Rychnovský, the deadline turned out to be unrealistic.
    The Tugendhat villa belongs to Brno, and the city, as the owner, has been planning its heritage restoration for years. According to Rychnovský, the municipal office is currently waiting for a decision from the Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS), which is commenting on the long-concluded selection procedure for the designer. Although the office issued a statement several years ago stating that the municipal office did not err in selecting the winner, the Brno Regional Court and subsequently the Supreme Administrative Court this year stated that the municipal office should have disqualified the later winner of the tender - the Omnia consortium - from the competition. The ÚOHS must now decide again and take the courts' opinions into account.
    "We are waiting for the ÚOHS's decision, and the city's stance will develop accordingly," said Rychnovský. Due to the confusion, the municipal office had a legal analysis prepared. Rychnovský did not want to specify its conclusions. "If we do not have the opinion of the antimonopoly office, I do not want to speculate," he said. According to him, the city cannot begin construction until the uncertainties are resolved. "We must adhere to the laws; we cannot take some partisan route," he said.
    The villa, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage list and has belonged to the city of Brno since 1994, has been waiting for a general overhaul for six years. The reconstruction is expected to involve almost everything, including the statically compromised foundations. Due to repeated postponements of the restoration, the heirs of the original owners of the villa requested its return last year. The Brno city council rejected this request.
    The Tugendhat villa is unique for its construction and the materials used. It was designed in 1928 by the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 to 1969), who is considered the father of 20th-century modern architecture. The villa set new standards for modern living; the glass main living space with a winter garden is only vaguely divided by free walls - the architect breathed life into the idea of a habitable continuous space. The building also featured original furnishings, design solutions for bathrooms, toilets, and heating appliances.