Brno - attempt at a new building type

Publisher
Markéta Svobodová
15.01.2007 00:10
Crematoria in Interwar Czechoslovakia
History and Development of the Architectural Type
Pardubice - an Attempt at the First Czech Crematorium
Crematoria in Ostrava, Nymburk, Most, and Plzeň
Brno - an Attempt at a New Building Type
Disputes over the Prague Crematorium
Arnošt Wiesner – On the Construction of the Crematorium (1928)

In Brno, as early as 1900, Professor Makovský advocated in the city council for the construction of a central crematorium with an associated cemetery hall at the municipal cemetery. However, discussions about the location for the building did not take place until 1923, considering places such as Špilberk, ultimately a plot on the elevated site of the central cemetery was chosen. The city council announced a limited competition in 1925, inviting architects: Pavel Janák, Arnošt Wiesner, Vladimír Škára, and Antonín Blažek. The jury included among others Vlastislav Hofman, Ing. F. Mencl, and Bohuslav Fuchs from the building office (1). In his design, Janák modified forms in his own way to simple plastic shapes that are close to Dutch modern architecture with an industrial subtext. The layout consisted of a closed complex, similar to Wiesner's. Wiesner's first project (published in Stavbě 1925/26) (2) originally counted on a more complex layout. Wiesner, very well aware of the circumstances, made an independent change to the location, which the jury rated very positively.
The realized project only differs by having stair entrances on three sides. After the competition was closed, the commission decided on a narrower competition between Wiesner and Janák. Janák's gable solution was disadvantaged from the start because the main view from Brno is a diagonal perspective, therefore the jury ultimately leaned towards Wiesner's project. The architecture of the Brno crematorium is the only and last "sacred-cult" building of this architect after a series of profane structures and, due to its type, partly escapes his work. For Wiesner, the determining concept is "ideal prerequisites" (3) and he attempts to create an ideal form prototype for the new cult.
The Brno crematorium consists of a whole of internally separated parts - districts. Each part expresses its function independently. The main theme of the building is, according to Wiesner's words, "division - a sequence of the entire procession" (4), this theme is reproduced in the asymmetrical and strictly functional layout. Wiesner does not refer to the ceremonial hall as a hall but as an enclosed courtyard where the mourners gather. The interior space is illuminated by "the sky" - a glass roof.
Wiesner's aim was to sacralize even such a profane matter as the cremation site. He achieved this idea by separating and enclosing the combustion space. Another independent element for Wiesner is the chimney, where according to him, the technical and ideological idea of cremation occurs "the highest expression" (5). A certain order, the sequence of the ceremonial procession is established for both the deceased and the mourners: arrival at the front staircase, meeting in the ceremonial courtyard, and departure through the side exits. References to architecture of the Far East could be seen in the external form of the crematorium. It is also possible that the theme of the ceremonial procession appears in the surrounding white body - the coffin surrounded by travertine pillars - by the mourners. The abstract means of the building are very well combined with high-quality contrasting materials. In contemporary criticism, especially in the circle of Stavby, reviewers criticized the architecture precisely for its symbolist expression (6). F. Mencl perceived an influence of the Vienna building by Clemens Holzmeister from 1921-23 (7) in Wiesner's crematorium. Although both architects have a similarly ahistorical timeless relationship to history, it is evident that Wiesner's building is much more advanced and abstract, and that it is one of the highest quality buildings of this type in Europe.

1) Krematorium XV, 1924, no. 11, p.107.
2) Competition for the crematorium in Brno, Stavba IV, 1925-26, p.168.
3) Arnošt Wiesner, On the construction of the crematorium, Horizont, 1928, no.11-13, p. 35.
4) Ibidem, p. 37.
5) Ibidem, p. 35.
6) Oldřich Starý, Competition for the crematorium in Brno, Stavba IV, 1925-26, p.77.
7) Krematorium XVIII, 1926, no.9, p. 82.
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