Villa Tugendhat and Brno Philharmonic

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On this particularly lovely day, I was able to join a small group of people in visiting an UNESCO World Heritage Site: Villa Tugendhat. The Villa was created by the famous architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in Brno, for Fritz and Greta Tugendhat in the 1930s and is now a protected site. Fritz and Greta were not able to live in their beautiful, highly modern villa for long; they were a Jewish family and when the Nazis came to the Czech lands, they wisely thought to leave, never to return to the villa again. Unfortunately, the house fell into some disrepair and much was destroyed by the ignorant invaders who occupied the place. The villa has been designed/refurbished to look as it did originally and it is beautiful. It is still, I think, rather innovative by today's standards and must have been fabulously grand (although always sleek and minimal) in its day.

I thought the furniture was particularly interesting because we studied the "Barcelona Chair," as it is called, in my Introduction to Theatre class at home. The simplicity and structure of the design was specifically plotted. The theatre department even has two replicas of said chairs standing outside the theatre. If you have been for a production, you have probably seen them. The replicas, even, are quite expensive today; each one of the chairs that was designed by Mies van der Rohe has a specific function and supporting design and name. Brilliant.





A few hours after the Villa - outing, I went to hear the Brno Philharmonic play. They did a lovely job and were very entertaining to see as well as to hear. A friend went with me; for $2, I got to see and hear some fabulous music for several hours. Thank you Europe, for without your heavily subsidized arts, I would be a bit less happy inside. ;-)

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Photos

Villa Tugendhat
Courtyard which leads the upper level of the Villa ...

Villa Tugendhat
This is inside the foryer... you can just see the marble flooring and the "milk glass" windows.

Villa Tugendhat
The coat-room. Note the beautiful dark wood and the coat hooks; everything was carefully designed.

Villa Tugendhat
Name: Barcelona Chair. Purpose: Relaxation. The chair is designed so the guest cannot too easily jump up from this chair; it is meant to be rested in.

Villa Tugendhat
Name: Barcelona Chair
Look at the chrome legs; it is designed to look like one solid piece. The materials show that this is an expensive chair but also sturdy.

Villa Tugendhat
The living room... see the functionality of the piano chair?

Villa Tugendhat
Greta and Fritz would have impressed their guests with this small table and beautiful chairs.

Villa Tugendhat
In the Library...
The wood (although not actually original) is beautiful and the small table and chairs provide a lovely nook for work or discussions.

Villa Tugendhat
This is another view of the table and chairs in the library (located across from the dining table).

Villa Tugendhat
The Dining Table.
The big wall behind the table is actually a solid sheet of special marble that turns a deep red color when the sun shines upon it in a certain way.

Villa Tugendhat
This stands in front of (or behind, depending on how you are looking) the dinner table. It is actually a deep purple glass cabinet.

Villa Tugendhat
Another beautiful chair in the library.

Villa Tugendhat
"The Living Room"...
I think the back of this chair is great!

Villa Tugendhat
The fronts of those wonderfully-backed chairs!

Villa Tugendhat
Won't you stay and relax?

Villa Tugendhat
"The Living Room"

Villa Tugendhat
"The Round Table of Tugendhat" ... A huge table, that when fully expanded, could seat up to 20 people!

Villa Tugendhat
The glass windows in the picture can actually be rolled down (similar to a car window) from the inside to let in the fresh air.