Czech Republic Guide
South Moravia
Vila Tugendhat
Opening time: Hourly guided tours Wed– Sun 10am–6pm
Website: www.tugendhat-villa.cz
Price: 120Kč
In the northeastern suburb of Černá Pole, modernist guru Mies van der Rohe built the Vila Tugendhat in the same functionalist style as the Nový dům settlement, but to a very different brief: the Tugendhats, an exceptionally rich Jewish family who ran a number of the city's textile factories, wanted a state-of-the-art house kitted out in the most expensive gear money could buy. It was completed in 1930, but the family had barely eight years to enjoy the luxury of the place before fleeing to South America (with most of the period furniture) in the wake of the Nazi invasion. For the next fifty years it was put to many uses – both the Nazis and Communists were particularly partial to it for exclusive social functions. From the street, you enter through the top floor, but the main living space is actually downstairs, open-plan for the most part and originally decked out in minimalist monochrome furnishings offset by colourful Persian carpets. The Communists' "modernization" after the war was depressingly thorough, and the huge unbroken front window, which looked out over the garden and the whole cityscape beyond it, has been replaced by a series of much smaller panes, being all the Communists' glassworks could muster. The house is at Černopolní 45, off Merhautova, itself a continuation of M. Horákové (tram #3, #5 or #11; stop Dětská nemocnice). It's very popular, so book ahead.