Interest in the Tugendhat Villa has been enormous since its reopening

Brno - The interest in the Brno Tugendhat villa, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been enormous since its reopening in 2012. The busiest times are weekends, along with the spring and autumn months. For example, Saturday slots are booked for larger groups until the end of June 2018, and individuals need to reserve spots approximately two to three months in advance, representatives of the Brno City Museum, which manages the villa, told ČTK.

Although the villa underwent a major renovation five years ago, the work on its maintenance has not stopped. For instance, during the annual sanitation days, the condition of the external plaster is regularly checked and minor repairs are carried out, including repairs to the lime paint. This year, experts conducted complete inspections, repairing cracks, defects, and unifying the underlying layer.

"Although a regular visitor may get the impression after visiting the Tugendhat villa that the building is in perfect condition, that visitor traffic is ongoing, and thus no further research or investments are needed, the opposite is true. Our work in the villa in all areas of activity does not end," said villa director Iveta Černá. In the field of research, two new publications will be released in the coming days. The first was created in collaboration with the Study and Documentation Centre of the Tugendhat Villa and the villa´s foundation and documents photographs by Rudolf de Sandal, who captured the villa in the 1930s when the Tugendhat family lived there. The second publication focused on the villa's garden.

"As for the building itself, our goal is, apart from regular and never-ending maintenance of the building, to enhance the villa’s furnishings so that visitors have the most comprehensive experience possible. This also means researching and subsequently supplementing the existing interiors with period furnishings. In this regard, we are preparing to add kitchen equipment that has been missing so far. We are working long-term on outfitting the darkroom and other rooms," Černá stated. According to her, the work in this respect is complicated since experts do not have exact documentation or descriptions for all rooms indicating what furnishings were placed in specific rooms.

The villa was designed in 1928 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Greta and Fritz Tugendhat. It is unique in its construction, spatial arrangement, interior furnishings, technical facilities, and integration into nature. For the first time in the history of architecture, a steel supporting structure was used in the construction of a private house.

From 2010 to 2012, the villa was reconstructed with the aim of bringing the building as close as possible to its original design. Since March 2012, the villa has been open to the public again, attracting around 30,000 visitors annually.