From the Tugendhat villa, modern materials are disappearing

In the children's section on the 3rd floor, built-in wardrobes from the 1980s were dismantled. In the boys' room, a wooden supporting frame was exposed behind these modern wardrobes, on which a slatted panel with a rosewood veneer is attached in the entrance hall of the house. On one of the supporting pillars, there is a visible pencil inscription with the date 21.7.1930, and on the wooden slatted panel, another pencil inscription with the date 2.9.1930 and the name Šulc – Schulz written in Czech and German. (photo: David Židlický)

Brno - Restorers and craftsmen working on the restoration of the rare Tugendhat villa in Brno are removing non-original extensions and materials every day, revealing the historic appearance of the building. In recent weeks, for example, some flooring and all lighting fixtures, sockets, and switches have disappeared, while original cladding and other interesting artifacts from the time when the villa, listed as a UNESCO site, served the Tugendhat family have emerged. This information comes from a report on the progress of the work provided to journalists by Pavel Žára, spokesperson for the Brno City Hall.
Even small discoveries and fragments of used materials will help experts in restoring the building. The goal of the reconstruction is to bring the villa closer to its original state. After the removal of modern equipment from the boiler room and coal storage in the so-called technical floor, research began in both rooms. Non-original cladding from the 1980s and flooring have been removed, and builders have broken through a bricked-up chute for coal. Inside the chute, they found the original full-area cladding with black ceramic tiles.
Non-original cladding has been removed from the bathroom on the main living floor. Builders also demolished a partition that had previously divided the bathroom space. Beneath it, they found authentic ceramic flooring. Heating elements from the 1980s have disappeared from the entire building. Due to the replacement of the sewage system, excavation work has begun inside the villa. "Work on the static securing of the retaining wall continues," the report states. In the second half of May, experts cleaned the wall and secured samples, based on which they will determine the color and texture of the original surface.
Experts are now pondering the method of restoring the external plaster. "The specific method, involving spots with varying degrees of damage, is currently being verified by the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice," the report states.
Today's craftsmen are also finding small artifacts from their predecessors from the time of the First Republic in the villa. From a construction probe under the ceiling, they extracted a wooden block from the time of the villa's construction with a pencil inscription "Mauer." On the wooden frame that the builders found behind the demolished non-original built-in wardrobes, there were other pencil inscriptions. On one post, there is the date 21.7.1930, and on the slatted panel, someone noted the dates 2.9.1930 and the names Šulc and Schulz.
The restoration of the Tugendhat villa, which is the only Czech building of modern art listed on the UNESCO list, will be largely funded by European grants. The total amount is 156 million crowns.
The villa was designed according to the plans of the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Tugendhats enjoyed the house for only eight years. Fearing the Nazis, they emigrated. When they left the house, it was variously used and later reconstructed, not always considerately. Nevertheless, the building remains the most authentic work of the architect on the European continent, said the villa's manager Iveta Černá recently.