PragueBuzz!

This is a strange animated film by Svankmajer, a well-respected Czech surrealist animator.

Tags: Czech, PragueBuzz, Animation

It’s a bit confusing, but remember this. Prague is already counted as 3 zones: P, 0 and 1. So remember this as you buy the tickets.

If you want to travel to zone 1 in the map, you have to buy a ticket which covers 4 zones: Prague (P,0,1) and the map’s zone 1. If you go to zone 2 in the map, buy the ticket cover 5 zones. More on transportation tickets in Czech.

Tags: Czech, Prague, PragueBuzz, Map, Transportation

Written by Tom J.

The interior is an amazing piece designed between 1929 and 1930 by a German architect, Mies van der Rohe. He wanted to create a strictly functional space not separated from the surrounding nature. The grandeur of the villa must not be expressed through the sheer numbers of decorations and fine arts but by purity, simplicity and top quality materials and modern technology of the early 20th century.

This villa is almost empty. There are only few pieces of furniture left partially because Nazi burned down many of them, and later on the Communist government changed the villa into a dancing school and rehabilitation center for children.

Technical blah

In the 80s, the villa was reconstructed using “modern future materials.” For example instead of using cork layers on all the floors, the PVC was lain down; light-switches from glass were changed to plastic ones, two thirds of villa’s walls are made of glass 5m x 3m x 11 mm, which originated from First Republic. During the 80’s, no one could manufacture such large piece of glass, let alone have it covered by anti-reflection layer. One of the villa’s amazing features is its fully air-conditioned state. Filtration of the air from the street passes through an anti dust filter. The glass walls are steam heated to ensure that no water condensates on them. In the main living room are 7m x 3m x 7cm onyx, semiprecious stone wall which was extracted from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa. They cost up to 200, 000 crowns, a sum which was worth four normal family houses during the First Republic. The main entrance floor is covered by highly precious travertine marble extracted in Italy, near Rome.

Some of the glass walls can be electrically pulled down to the basement, and the villa reveals itself to nature. When the sun illuminates into the villa’s interior, the sunbeams shroud the onyx wall blood red color and create light-maps all over the living room, producing a very cool effect.

Visitation

We visited the villa at 17:00. The guided tour took approximately 40 minutes; thus we were not able to see the villa under the sunlight. It was a fascinating experience to see night illumination on the interiors, produced mainly by illuminating milk-glass walls which spreading smooth day-like light.

From 1930, the villa was inhabited by the Tugendthats, who were Czech Jews, until their emigration to Switzerland and to Venezuela before WWII. During the war, bombs hit the gardens, glassed walls and partially the floor cork, destroying much of the interior. Herr Tugendthat was an amateur photographer and documented the interiors in details, so you can have see what the villa looked like in the past in black and white pictures.

Recently, Tugendthat’s ancestors asked for restitution to renovate the villa and administer the villa themselves. A four-year reconstruction project for the villa is set to begin in early 2007. We’re not sure if this project is carried out by the government or the villa’s returning owners.

Getting There

• Visit the villa’s site and book the visit.
• Hitchhike to Brno if you are a crazy traveler.
• Use Student agency’s bus services or train.
• In Brno, use public transport or taxi to get to the villa. Look at map.

It takes about 2 to 3 hours to get to Brno.

Contact me to add or suggest other information

For more information on Tugendthat, visit www.tugendhat-villa.cz/html.en/index.html.

Tags: Czech, Prague, PragueBuzz, UNESCO, Villa, Tugendthat

Hey budget skiers, be happy. There is a free shuttle bus to Krkonoše resorts which scheduled to leave several times a day including weekend. The sudden generosity responds to the increasing competition in the skiing industry. More Czech skiers now go abroad to Austria, Slovakia, France or Italy for better slope conditions.

When I showed my friend, a local Czech, the free bus sign at Cerny Most, he shrugged his head. “Nah. They make money back on the day pass. It costs about 25 dollars per day.” This guy was planning for a trip to the Southern Alps of France.

For more information, visit www.ergis.cz/krkonose.

The free buses depart from Cerny Most, the end station of metro B, yellow line.