Villa Tugendhat

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Villa Tugendhat, front

Villa Tugendhat, Entrance to the family rooms (to the left). A staircase on the right side of the building leads to the living room.

Villa Tugendhat, view of the left side from the street.

The Villa Tugendhat is considered a masterpiece of the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Built in 1930 in Brno, in today's Czech Republic, for Fritz Tugendhat and his wife Greta, the villa soon became an icon of modern architecture.

It is a paradigmatic example of functionalism. Van der Rohe used the revolutionary iron framework which enabled him to dispense with supporting walls and arrange the interior in order to achieve a feeling of space and light. He also designed all furniture (two types of armchair designed for the building, the Tugendhat chair and the Brno chair, are still in production). There were no paintings or decorative items in the villa but the interior was by no means austere due to the use of naturally patterned materials such as the captivating onyx wall and rare tropical woods. The onyx wall is partially translucent and changes appearance when the evening sun is low. The architect also managed to make the magificient view from the villa an integral part of the interior.

The cost of building the villa was very high due to the unusual construction method, the luxurious materials, very modern technology of heating, ventilation etc. It is also quite large for a family house, a fact which may escape casual visitors since the elegant simplicity of the rooms used by the family is compensated by a very large space occupied by various utility rooms.

The Tugendhats (who were Jews) left Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s when the country was invaded by Nazi Germany, and never returned. The house was used for various practical purposes for several decades after World War II.

In 1992, the political leaders of Czechoslovakia met there to confer about the splitting-up of the country. Nowadays the building is accessible to the public (reservation is necessary).

Villa Tugendhat was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002.