Opening of the reconstructed House of Arts in Brno
The reconstruction of the House of Art at Malinovského Square was one of the closely monitored investment projects that the city of Brno has carried on its shoulders over the past two years. The repair has been successfully completed, and currently, preparations are underway for the entire exhibition house for its ceremonial opening and the presentation of the inaugural exhibition.
How it all began
The repair of the House of Art did not start in February of last year, but much earlier. Initial preparations took place as early as the late 1990s when the then-director Pavel Liška initiated the processing of the investment TEZ, in which the first estimate of the necessary construction intervention exceeded 100 million crowns. The actual preparation for this construction project did not happen until 2006 when the Brno City Council approved the total costs for the reconstruction amounting to 25.5 million crowns. Based on a competitive tender, the design documentation contractor was chosen to be the studio Architekti Hrůša & Pelčák, Atelier Brno, s.r.o. The subsequent construction survey revealed several previously unreflected facts (emergency state of the sewage system, the necessity of remediation of damp masonry in the lower structure) that exceeded the budgetary possibilities of the reconstruction. This was a serious reason to open the question of increasing the budget even before the construction began, which eventually occurred in June 2007. The increased amount was 18.6 million crowns. Further increases occurred during the construction due to additional unexpected findings brought about by the reconstruction: remediation of the air raid shelter, securing weakened structural elements, etc. The strengthened budget also included an amount that served to repair the so-called commercial spaces (the former restaurant Picasso and the so-called Gallery), which were originally not part of the planned works.
What changed
The main architectural intent was to follow up on the post-war reconstruction by Bohuslav Fuchs and strengthen the potential hidden in Fuchs' layout.
Emphasis was placed on connecting the House of Art with its surroundings and transforming the operation of the house so that it could become a lively exhibition institution fully comfortable for visitors. No less important was the change of water, heating, and electrical installations, which among other things manifested in more aesthetically pleasing exhibition halls:
The new appearance of the House of Art is certainly an interesting attraction; however, the main visitor appeal will continue to be the content within the old-new walls: high-quality exhibitions focused primarily on contemporary visual arts as well as architecture and design, alongside a wide spectrum of accompanying programs. This pertains not only to the House of Art but also to the House of Lords of Kunštát.
In the future, the House of Art will primarily host more demanding and long-term exhibition projects. The House of Lords of Kunštát will continue to host the youngest exhibiting generation of artists and more alternative cultural events.
With the reopening of the main exhibition house, the House of Art of the city of Brno is fully engaging in the Brno cultural scene, aiming to become a center of valuable artistic experience in both locations, as well as an original space for social engagement.
Historical development of the building
(Excerpt from the accompanying project report)
Ing. arch. Petra Hrůša
The Brno Exhibition and Association House of German Moravian Visual Artists was assigned a significant place on the so-called Brno Ring Boulevard, which was established in the 19th century on the site of the demolished city walls. Following the model of the Vienna Ring Boulevard, extensive street prospectuses, representative public buildings, new luxury residential houses, and promenade parks were gradually constructed here. A prestigious architectural competition was announced for the site in the park between the former German Theater and Koliště Street. The German Moravian Visual Artists' building emerged from the winning design in 1908, and its author was the Austrian architect Heinrich Carl Ried. Almost seventy proposals from German-speaking architects were submitted to the competition. The jury included, in addition to prominent Brno personalities from the German construction industry Wilhelm Dwořak and Ferdinand Hrach, the authorities of the Vienna Academy Otto Wagner and Fridrich Ohman. The Jubilee Artists' House of Emperor Franz Joseph I was opened in March 1911. The massed object was based on a rational yet generously conceived layout in a modern decorative style. The symmetrical building with horizontal wings culminated in a tall gable for optimal lighting of the exhibition halls with glass roofs.
The building was damaged during World War II. The reconstruction project was developed by the notable Brno functionalist architect Bohuslav Fuchs in 1946. He removed decorative elements from the façade and the entrance semi-circular apse and built a new monumental front with a newly designed entrance in its place. He adjusted the height levels, purified the form, modified dispositions in the spirit of modern functionalist principles, and proposed a new interior. On the ground floor, he monumentalized the foyer as a so-called vestibule and illuminated this new extension with side fully-glazed façades. The extension was capped with a flat roof featuring a lantern skylight, which illuminates the newly created so-called Procházkovy Hall on the first floor. The project also variably proposed an unrealized upper lighting for the ground floor for the Gallery of Jaroslav Král, terminated by a ridged glass skylight. Alternative designs also addressed the utilization of the basement for a social or theater hall.
The interior was executed from typical functionalist materials and forms – travertine stairs and floors, tubular railings, oak veneer, new fillings of window openings, large sanitary facilities accessible from the landing in the foyer. The construction was stripped of decorative façade stuccoes, and the cornices and plinths were clad in pink stone. The concept of upper lighting through glazed roofs and ceiling downlights was preserved. The building underwent a comprehensive renovation in 1999, during which interior adjustments were made, and it was likely re-plastered with brizolite. In subsequent years, its condition was maintained; the Procházkovy Hall served the Husa na provázku theater in its early years. In the 1990s, the glazed walls and lantern skylight were replaced with system glazing with insulating double-glazing into 'iník' profiles.
Urban and architectural solution of the current building
The exhibition gallery House of Art of the city of Brno has held a privileged position in the city's structure since its inception. Its location on the eastern edge of the city center was associated with a fundamental urban transformation of Brno in the second half of the 19th century. According to the regulatory plan of Viennese architects Ludwig von Förster and Johann Lorenz, extensive street prospectuses (e.g., Husova Street, Moravské náměstí, Koliště Street, etc.), representative public buildings (city theater, "Red Church," German gymnasium - today's JAMU, university - today MU Medical Faculty), new luxury residential houses (Městský dvůr and Pražákův palác on Husova Street, prestigious houses on Koliště Street, etc.), and promenade parks were gradually built in the locations of the demolished fortifications. The House of Art remains the entrance gate to the park, which further houses the newly built functionalist Zeman's café and the Janáček Opera Theatre from the 1960s.
As the House of German Moravian Artists, it was intended to be the main exhibition and social house, which, adjacent to the former German theater - today's Mahen Theater - forms a symbolic gradation of the so-called Brno Ring Boulevard. Later functionalist adjustments with the monumentalized front, its location, size, and timeless concept of exhibition spaces maintain its status as a significant cultural institution in the city of Brno. The building is a three-story symmetrical object with a cross-plan layout and four side wings. The eastern wing is situated on Koliště Street, the southern wing with the main entrance faces Malinovského náměstí, the western wing is directed toward the Mahen Theater, and the northern wing overlooks the park. The central block forms the main axis, containing on the ground floor an entrance area connecting to the foyer - vestibule, from which one can ascend to a higher level into the Gallery of Jaroslav Král (GJK). Symmetrically in the side wings are staircases, sanitary facilities, and administrative wings for the operation of the House of Art. In this cross-plan, there are interconnected exhibition spaces on the first floor with the original upper lighting. The entire building is basemented, with temporary storage rooms, a workshop, an archive in the basement, the left side wing rented as a restaurant and the right for a foundation and private gallery. The restaurant and foundation spaces are not part of this project.
The ground plan is roofed with a glass gable roof on the original steel truss framework, and the side wings also have glazed gable roofs. The newer entrance block features a roof with a large lantern skylight above the exhibition space known as the Procházkovy Hall. The gable roofs are two-thirds glazed with simple wired glass, and the non-glazed parts of the roofs are supported with boards under a metal covering. The side wings are at different heights in the basement and ground floor compared to the central section.
Principles of architectural, functional, spatial, and artistic solutions and the landscaping of the surroundings of the building, including access and use of the building by persons with limited mobility and orientation
The architectural expression of the exhibition gallery House of Art was primarily defined by the purist reconstruction in 1946 by architect B. Fuchs of the original building of the House of German Moravian Artists from 1908 by architect C.H. Ried.
The project documentation considers maintaining Fuchs' functionalist form of the building, with new lime stucco applied to the façades, current openings being repaired, and the roofs remaining in their existing form. To enhance technical conditions for use and the economics of the building, the ceilings will be insulated from within the roof structure, and the glass surfaces will be treated with light-diffusing foil of clear color.
The Gallery of Jaroslav Král will be equipped with an air conditioning unit to achieve the required stability of the environment for both the exhibition of valuable works and to ensure a comfortable environment for lectures. The raised attic necessary for concealing the air conditioning unit will give a new shape to the extension and will allow for new upper lighting of the exhibition space of the Gallery of Jaroslav Král. The exit from the gallery to the newly designed balcony will ensure a new connection between the exhibition house and the adjacent park and can serve for occasional placement of exhibited objects. The window from the gallery will be proportionally adjusted to the new shape of the extension.
To simplify the works during the dehumidification and re-insulation of the lower structure, a solution of partial excavation of the administrative wing is proposed, which will also improve the operational conditions of the restaurant, which is not the subject of the project. Overall landscaping induced by the reconstruction will improve the optical connection of the house to the park, allowing for potential exhibition of exhibits in the proposed landscaping adjustments.
To achieve the integrity of the architectural expression, the openings in the restaurant and the rented part will also be replaced in agreement with the tenants. The external appearance of the building will remain almost identical after the reconstruction.
Internal adjustments will involve the construction and relocation of sanitary facilities including accessible restrooms into the newly accessible basement through spacious staircases and a reconstructed lift.
The proposed adjustments will connect the entrance foyer with the basement into one extended functional whole. Releasing the layout for the restrooms on the ground floor will create space for expanding the exhibition space of the Gallery of Jaroslav Král. The second floor will continue to serve as the main exhibition area with high-quality upper lighting without significant changes following the reconstruction.
The basement spaces are spatially adjusted to provide sufficient comfortable areas for background facilities, divided storage rooms, and the new position of the workshop in the currently unused space of the former transformer station allows for direct access from the exterior.
How it all began
The repair of the House of Art did not start in February of last year, but much earlier. Initial preparations took place as early as the late 1990s when the then-director Pavel Liška initiated the processing of the investment TEZ, in which the first estimate of the necessary construction intervention exceeded 100 million crowns. The actual preparation for this construction project did not happen until 2006 when the Brno City Council approved the total costs for the reconstruction amounting to 25.5 million crowns. Based on a competitive tender, the design documentation contractor was chosen to be the studio Architekti Hrůša & Pelčák, Atelier Brno, s.r.o. The subsequent construction survey revealed several previously unreflected facts (emergency state of the sewage system, the necessity of remediation of damp masonry in the lower structure) that exceeded the budgetary possibilities of the reconstruction. This was a serious reason to open the question of increasing the budget even before the construction began, which eventually occurred in June 2007. The increased amount was 18.6 million crowns. Further increases occurred during the construction due to additional unexpected findings brought about by the reconstruction: remediation of the air raid shelter, securing weakened structural elements, etc. The strengthened budget also included an amount that served to repair the so-called commercial spaces (the former restaurant Picasso and the so-called Gallery), which were originally not part of the planned works.
What changed
The main architectural intent was to follow up on the post-war reconstruction by Bohuslav Fuchs and strengthen the potential hidden in Fuchs' layout.
Emphasis was placed on connecting the House of Art with its surroundings and transforming the operation of the house so that it could become a lively exhibition institution fully comfortable for visitors. No less important was the change of water, heating, and electrical installations, which among other things manifested in more aesthetically pleasing exhibition halls:
- around the House of Art is an excavation that helps to dry the damp masonry and simultaneously allows for the transformation of the basement spaces of the former restaurant into a new airy café, which will also serve as an additional entrance to the exhibition spaces.
- The Gallery of Jaroslav Král (ground floor exhibition hall) is lined with a balcony that can be used during vernissages and other social events, allowing visitors to enjoy a view into the park.
- The new entrance to the House of Art creates an elongated funnel with a lightweight glass wall.
- People in wheelchairs or parents with strollers finally have the opportunity to access the House of Art via an elevator and platform.
- The entrance area, covered with stone paving, is intended to serve in the future as a busy intersection with a daily café and a store for books and design products.
- Access to the basement spaces, where the restrooms and café are located, is symmetrically situated on the sides of the foyer.
- The Gallery of Jaroslav Král received a new window format, upper lighting, and air conditioning in addition to the balcony.
- The main exhibition halls have enhanced air conditioning and newly glazed skylights that bring beautiful light into the halls and serve as one of the elements of passive protection against overheating in the summer months. In winter, they help to prevent heat loss.
- In the halls, the niches of the central heating have been removed, along with some unnecessary switches.
- All halls have been sanded and supplemented with a floor moldings. The exception is the floor of the Procházkovy Hall, which respectfully bears the marks of over twenty years of history of the Husa na provázku theater in the House of Art.
- to re-glaze the skylights. During the reconstruction, the glass in the skylight frames was damaged and shifted. Due to these changes, localized leakage occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to replace the damaged glass and subsequently supplement it with reflective film to enhance passive protection against overheating of the interior space.
- to complete the internal and external orientation system.
- to install a neon sign in the form of the institution's logo on the front of the House of Art.
The new appearance of the House of Art is certainly an interesting attraction; however, the main visitor appeal will continue to be the content within the old-new walls: high-quality exhibitions focused primarily on contemporary visual arts as well as architecture and design, alongside a wide spectrum of accompanying programs. This pertains not only to the House of Art but also to the House of Lords of Kunštát.
In the future, the House of Art will primarily host more demanding and long-term exhibition projects. The House of Lords of Kunštát will continue to host the youngest exhibiting generation of artists and more alternative cultural events.
With the reopening of the main exhibition house, the House of Art of the city of Brno is fully engaging in the Brno cultural scene, aiming to become a center of valuable artistic experience in both locations, as well as an original space for social engagement.
Historical development of the building
(Excerpt from the accompanying project report)
Ing. arch. Petra Hrůša
The Brno Exhibition and Association House of German Moravian Visual Artists was assigned a significant place on the so-called Brno Ring Boulevard, which was established in the 19th century on the site of the demolished city walls. Following the model of the Vienna Ring Boulevard, extensive street prospectuses, representative public buildings, new luxury residential houses, and promenade parks were gradually constructed here. A prestigious architectural competition was announced for the site in the park between the former German Theater and Koliště Street. The German Moravian Visual Artists' building emerged from the winning design in 1908, and its author was the Austrian architect Heinrich Carl Ried. Almost seventy proposals from German-speaking architects were submitted to the competition. The jury included, in addition to prominent Brno personalities from the German construction industry Wilhelm Dwořak and Ferdinand Hrach, the authorities of the Vienna Academy Otto Wagner and Fridrich Ohman. The Jubilee Artists' House of Emperor Franz Joseph I was opened in March 1911. The massed object was based on a rational yet generously conceived layout in a modern decorative style. The symmetrical building with horizontal wings culminated in a tall gable for optimal lighting of the exhibition halls with glass roofs.
The building was damaged during World War II. The reconstruction project was developed by the notable Brno functionalist architect Bohuslav Fuchs in 1946. He removed decorative elements from the façade and the entrance semi-circular apse and built a new monumental front with a newly designed entrance in its place. He adjusted the height levels, purified the form, modified dispositions in the spirit of modern functionalist principles, and proposed a new interior. On the ground floor, he monumentalized the foyer as a so-called vestibule and illuminated this new extension with side fully-glazed façades. The extension was capped with a flat roof featuring a lantern skylight, which illuminates the newly created so-called Procházkovy Hall on the first floor. The project also variably proposed an unrealized upper lighting for the ground floor for the Gallery of Jaroslav Král, terminated by a ridged glass skylight. Alternative designs also addressed the utilization of the basement for a social or theater hall.
The interior was executed from typical functionalist materials and forms – travertine stairs and floors, tubular railings, oak veneer, new fillings of window openings, large sanitary facilities accessible from the landing in the foyer. The construction was stripped of decorative façade stuccoes, and the cornices and plinths were clad in pink stone. The concept of upper lighting through glazed roofs and ceiling downlights was preserved. The building underwent a comprehensive renovation in 1999, during which interior adjustments were made, and it was likely re-plastered with brizolite. In subsequent years, its condition was maintained; the Procházkovy Hall served the Husa na provázku theater in its early years. In the 1990s, the glazed walls and lantern skylight were replaced with system glazing with insulating double-glazing into 'iník' profiles.
Urban and architectural solution of the current building
The exhibition gallery House of Art of the city of Brno has held a privileged position in the city's structure since its inception. Its location on the eastern edge of the city center was associated with a fundamental urban transformation of Brno in the second half of the 19th century. According to the regulatory plan of Viennese architects Ludwig von Förster and Johann Lorenz, extensive street prospectuses (e.g., Husova Street, Moravské náměstí, Koliště Street, etc.), representative public buildings (city theater, "Red Church," German gymnasium - today's JAMU, university - today MU Medical Faculty), new luxury residential houses (Městský dvůr and Pražákův palác on Husova Street, prestigious houses on Koliště Street, etc.), and promenade parks were gradually built in the locations of the demolished fortifications. The House of Art remains the entrance gate to the park, which further houses the newly built functionalist Zeman's café and the Janáček Opera Theatre from the 1960s.
As the House of German Moravian Artists, it was intended to be the main exhibition and social house, which, adjacent to the former German theater - today's Mahen Theater - forms a symbolic gradation of the so-called Brno Ring Boulevard. Later functionalist adjustments with the monumentalized front, its location, size, and timeless concept of exhibition spaces maintain its status as a significant cultural institution in the city of Brno. The building is a three-story symmetrical object with a cross-plan layout and four side wings. The eastern wing is situated on Koliště Street, the southern wing with the main entrance faces Malinovského náměstí, the western wing is directed toward the Mahen Theater, and the northern wing overlooks the park. The central block forms the main axis, containing on the ground floor an entrance area connecting to the foyer - vestibule, from which one can ascend to a higher level into the Gallery of Jaroslav Král (GJK). Symmetrically in the side wings are staircases, sanitary facilities, and administrative wings for the operation of the House of Art. In this cross-plan, there are interconnected exhibition spaces on the first floor with the original upper lighting. The entire building is basemented, with temporary storage rooms, a workshop, an archive in the basement, the left side wing rented as a restaurant and the right for a foundation and private gallery. The restaurant and foundation spaces are not part of this project.
The ground plan is roofed with a glass gable roof on the original steel truss framework, and the side wings also have glazed gable roofs. The newer entrance block features a roof with a large lantern skylight above the exhibition space known as the Procházkovy Hall. The gable roofs are two-thirds glazed with simple wired glass, and the non-glazed parts of the roofs are supported with boards under a metal covering. The side wings are at different heights in the basement and ground floor compared to the central section.
Principles of architectural, functional, spatial, and artistic solutions and the landscaping of the surroundings of the building, including access and use of the building by persons with limited mobility and orientation
The architectural expression of the exhibition gallery House of Art was primarily defined by the purist reconstruction in 1946 by architect B. Fuchs of the original building of the House of German Moravian Artists from 1908 by architect C.H. Ried.
The project documentation considers maintaining Fuchs' functionalist form of the building, with new lime stucco applied to the façades, current openings being repaired, and the roofs remaining in their existing form. To enhance technical conditions for use and the economics of the building, the ceilings will be insulated from within the roof structure, and the glass surfaces will be treated with light-diffusing foil of clear color.
The Gallery of Jaroslav Král will be equipped with an air conditioning unit to achieve the required stability of the environment for both the exhibition of valuable works and to ensure a comfortable environment for lectures. The raised attic necessary for concealing the air conditioning unit will give a new shape to the extension and will allow for new upper lighting of the exhibition space of the Gallery of Jaroslav Král. The exit from the gallery to the newly designed balcony will ensure a new connection between the exhibition house and the adjacent park and can serve for occasional placement of exhibited objects. The window from the gallery will be proportionally adjusted to the new shape of the extension.
To simplify the works during the dehumidification and re-insulation of the lower structure, a solution of partial excavation of the administrative wing is proposed, which will also improve the operational conditions of the restaurant, which is not the subject of the project. Overall landscaping induced by the reconstruction will improve the optical connection of the house to the park, allowing for potential exhibition of exhibits in the proposed landscaping adjustments.
To achieve the integrity of the architectural expression, the openings in the restaurant and the rented part will also be replaced in agreement with the tenants. The external appearance of the building will remain almost identical after the reconstruction.
Internal adjustments will involve the construction and relocation of sanitary facilities including accessible restrooms into the newly accessible basement through spacious staircases and a reconstructed lift.
The proposed adjustments will connect the entrance foyer with the basement into one extended functional whole. Releasing the layout for the restrooms on the ground floor will create space for expanding the exhibition space of the Gallery of Jaroslav Král. The second floor will continue to serve as the main exhibition area with high-quality upper lighting without significant changes following the reconstruction.
The basement spaces are spatially adjusted to provide sufficient comfortable areas for background facilities, divided storage rooms, and the new position of the workshop in the currently unused space of the former transformer station allows for direct access from the exterior.
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