The fate of Jurkovič's villa: From a residential villa to a museum

The Jurkovič Villa is the name given to the house located in the Brno neighborhood of Žabovřesky, which architect Dušan Jurkovič built for himself and his family at the beginning of the 20th century. In which year was it exactly?
At the end of 1905, Jurkovič began preparing the project, and in August 1906, he opened the villa. He lived there until 1919 when he moved to Slovakia.

I assume he sold the villa to someone at that time, but how did it come to be owned by the Moravian Gallery in Brno?
The path led through several private owners. Perhaps the most important was the sale of the villa in 1938 to a significant Brno lawyer. It is believed that this was a step to prevent the villa from being destroyed, as the German environment was not particularly sympathetic to Jurkovič. From 1938 onwards, one family owned or inhabited the house, and the granddaughter of the original owner, married Bradáčová, sold it in 2006 to the Moravian Gallery in Brno.

What led the gallery to purchase this house?
First and foremost, it was Dušan Jurkovič's significance for the Czech Republic. In our country, Jurkovič is still not appreciated enough—unlike the Slovaks, who have named their main award for the most successful architectural achievement of the year after him. The Czech Republic views this architect as one of many, additionally marked as an architect inspired by folk art, who is somewhat overlooked, even though he doesn't deserve it. Jurkovič belongs to one of the main currents of modernity at the beginning of the 20th century, which drew inspiration from folk art not only in our country but also in Hungary, Finland, and other countries.

So was the main reason for the purchase the highlighting of Dušan Jurkovič's importance?
Yes, but the purchase of the villa is also related to a certain trend that has recently manifested in museum practice. The public has a relatively high interest in small museum and gallery institutions. There is a phenomenon of exhibition tourism; people seek not only the institution itself but also enjoy the journey to it. And visiting a house in the context of a city or neighborhood associated with a certain figure, touring their house, and familiarizing themselves with the space in which they lived is quite popular and attractive today.

What condition was the villa in at the time the gallery purchased it?
The villa was celebrating its hundredth anniversary at that time, so it was a house whose condition was, so to speak, commensurate with its age. It had undergone several different reconstructions, the first of which took place in the 1930s when the interior was adapted to contemporary living standards. In the 1960s, there was a reconstruction under the supervision of the Institute of Heritage Care, which at least tried, from the outside, to maintain the house's historical appearance. At that time, the villa was also declared a cultural monument.

Is it possible to disclose how much the villa cost and how it is funded?
The villa cost just over 15 million. The reconstruction will cost about 40 million, which is funded by a grant from the EEA/Norway Financial Mechanisms—the so-called Norwegian Funds.

What steps does the gallery plan to take in the villa, and who is architecturally responsible for its current reconstruction?
The reconstruction is architecturally overseen by the TRANSAT ARCHITEKTI studio, comprising Petr Všetečka, Robert Václavík, and Karel Menšík. After the villa was sold to the Moravian Gallery in Brno, they developed a reconstruction project aimed at returning the house to its appearance in 1906. Since the atmosphere of the house in which Dušan Jurkovič lived should be recreated, some alterations and modifications that were made to the villa will be removed.

Can you provide some specific examples?
One of the most interesting examples is the stair hall. From period image documentation, we knew that it featured a carved painted truss, which, however, had a ceiling placed under it in the 1930s. Until a probe was made, no one knew what was underneath that ceiling. The placement of the ceiling resulted in the truss preserving its original form, with the original glazes and enamel paints. Something has been preserved here that has irreversibly disappeared from the other wooden elements in the interior during later renovations and adaptations for life in the second half of the 20th century.

In your previous response, you mentioned that the goal of the reconstruction is to return the villa to its original state as faithfully as possible. However, the original function of this house was a residential villa; its new function will be as exhibition space. So some changes must occur.
That is certain; the house will be functionally adapted. Rooms such as the children's room or bedroom will not serve their original purpose, and besides, we do not even know how these rooms looked. Exhibitions will be placed in them, focusing on the works of Dušan Jurkovič. But the spaces for which we have visual documentation and know how they looked will be restored as closely as possible to their original appearance. We benefit greatly from the fact that Dušan Jurkovič bequeathed his estate to the Slovak National Archive, where it is currently preserved.

As far as I know, the only remnants of the original furniture are fragments of a small bookcase and furniture from a room referred to as the sample room.
The furniture from the sample room has been preserved in the interiors of the castle in Nové Město nad Metují; however, it is now an integral part of the castle and cannot be returned to the villa, as it would be missing from the castle. Dušan Jurkovič sold it to Nové Město nad Metují while he was working on the reconstruction of the castle for the Bartoni family from Dobenín, which is one of his life’s achievements. Jurkovič treated the sample room in such a way that he exhibited the furniture he offered to his clients there. That is why this room is referred to as the sample room or showroom. These terms already appear in contemporary literature from 1906 and 1907; it is quite a remarkable thing that was not entirely typical until then. Jurkovič replaced the interior with another one and then some other; we know about the interior he sold to Tomáš Baťa, and he must have taken some furniture with him to Slovakia.

Most of the original furniture from Jurkovič's villa, however, no longer exists today. What is the tendency of the Moravian Gallery in Brno? To place furniture that Jurkovič designed for other interiors here, or to create replicas of non-existent originals?
For this house, the main space is the stair hall with the library. This space is important for its color atmosphere, form of furniture, and the material from which the furniture was made. For it, we will make very precise copies of the original furniture using the documentation preserved in the Slovak National Archive. There, we can find plans for built-in furniture and free-standing pieces often made in a 1:1 ratio. In other rooms, we will use what is in the MG collections; the sample room will return to its original purpose, which means it will become the museum's sample room. In this space, we plan to exhibit furniture sets from Art Nouveau architects, as well as some contemporary furniture sets.

So the originally residential spaces should become exhibition spaces—whether for an exhibition dedicated to Dušan Jurkovič…
…or an exhibition dedicated to the house itself, which will stem its content from the functions of this house and from the significance it had for contemporary culture and architecture.

Additionally, short-term exhibitions should also be held here.
The space of the studio on the upper floor, which consists of two rooms with beautiful lighting that Jurkovič used for working on his projects, will be used for organizing short-term exhibitions.

What about the facilities that such a building needs? By that, I mean changing rooms, ticket offices, restrooms—these are spaces that Jurkovič did not incorporate into his villa.
This is one of the fundamental reasons why the reconstruction currently underway in the Jurkovič villa is very challenging both in terms of time and finances. Of course, these functions need to be added to the house here because, as we said at the beginning, it was just a family home. Today we want it to be a museum, so it will not just accommodate five people, or twenty during some party, but we strive for the number of visitors to the Jurkovič villa to be much greater. Therefore, it was necessary to build facilities, which will be made use of in the basement. This area was already reconstructed in the 1950s, and there are not many memorials to Jurkovič in this space, so it is possible to make some interventions here. Museums must also consider that in about ten years, one of the significant components of visitors will be people aged 70 and over. For this reason, an elevator has been designed for the villa, which will allow visitors to move around the various exhibition spaces, and the current stair construction is not entirely suitable for this purpose.

Where in the building should the elevator be located?
The elevator will be in the service part of the house. In the villa, there are several small rooms stacked on top of each other, located right next to the service staircase; in the basement, there was a room for the gardener, above it a room for the maid, and on the top floor, Jurkovič’s model workshop. These three small spaces, which could not be used for exhibition purposes or would maximally turn into insignificant storage spaces, were used to accommodate the elevator shaft.

What do you consider the greatest architectural intervention in the villa? Is it this elevator or the aforementioned reconstruction of the basement into museum facilities?
In this reconstruction, it is difficult to speak of the largest intervention. Of course, many things will happen there, but all should ultimately turn out so that no extension is violently apparent. The new elements in the basement, the elevator, the research room, and a small office with a library and archive that will be located in the attic space are significant interventions from a construction standpoint, but all interventions will somehow communicate with the rest of the architecture of the house. So I probably wouldn't use the term "largest intervention," as it somewhat presages the notion that there has been some major change. Changes will, of course, occur, but they will be of a functional nature.

And what about the mosaic that was placed on the gable of the building? If I remember correctly, it was soon destroyed, and part of the reconstruction should also be the creation of a new mosaic based on a contemporary design.
The author of the original mosaic design, which Dušan Jurkovič commissioned in 1906, was Adolf Kašpar. It depicted a motif from the Slovak fairy tale "Bača a drak," rewritten by Božena Němcová. The mosaic was processed by the company of Bohumil Škarda, which was based in Brno and collaborated with Dušan Jurkovič on several other projects, such as the Community House in Skalica or houses in Luhačovice. Dušan Jurkovič also designed a residential building for Bohumil Škarda on Dvořákova Street in Brno. The mosaic on the Jurkovič villa was composed of small pieces that were cut into specific shapes and painted. Because the production of the mosaic was quite complicated, we decided not to return to Kašpar's design. Moreover, we only know this design as a first sketch, which is about A4 in size. Developing such a truly tiny picture into a large mosaic would be quite complicated, and we could never be sure of success. For these reasons, we decided to approach contemporary artists and offer them the opportunity to engage with the fairy tale theme.

Is it already known which contemporary artist will create the new design?
A selection procedure has already taken place, and the winner of the competition was Josef Bolf, who most understood the assignment and the vision that Dušan Jurkovič originally had. Moreover, he was able to understand best the role of the mosaic on the house and the role of the assigned theme. His work is surprising, but it fits the villa very well.

And what is the current state of the villa's reconstruction?
The insulation of the house, modifications to the basements, and preparations for the elevator shaft have already been completed. Currently, work is being done on the roof, which has been covered with a gigantic metal structure over which a tarpaulin has been stretched, somewhat resembling projects like wrapping the Reichstag.

Before the reconstruction began, the Moravian Gallery in Brno held tours in the villa. Is it possible to look into the spaces during the reconstruction, or will the house open only when the reconstruction is completed?
Principally, the public will access the villa only when the reconstruction is completed, because it is a construction site, and, as with any other construction, certain safety conditions must be observed. So making any significant tours at this time is absolutely impossible.

And when is the reconstruction expected to be completed?
If the plans go well, it should be completed by the end of next summer, then some adjustments will still take place in the interior, but by the end of next year, the reconstruction of the Jurkovič villa will be finished.

And when should the villa be made accessible to the public?
Either at the end of next year or in the spring of 2011.

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Mgr. Martina Straková (*1978)
Studied art history and history at the Faculty of Arts of Masaryk University in Brno. She deals with the history and theory of interior design and the history of collecting. Since 2001, she has been working at the Moravian Gallery in Brno as a curator of the furniture collection, from 2006 as the curator of the Birth House of Josef Hoffmann in Brtnice and in 2007 of the villa of Dušan Jurkovič in Brno. Between 2002 - 2007 she collaborated with the editorial office of the internet magazine ARCHiNET. She publishes in magazines such as Architekt, ERA 21, Detail, etc.; she is a Wikipedian.

Silvie Šeborová
is the editor-in-chief of the internet magazine artalk.cz and works in the program department of MG.