Villas
1. The Villa of Tomas Bata
Zlín, Čepkov, Gahurova 292
architect: Jan Kotěra
finished in: 1911
the owner and user: Nadace Tomáše Bati, Gahurova 292, Zlín
Architect: Jan Kotěra, finished in: 1911 the owner and user: the Tomas Bata Foundation, Gahurova 292, Zlín It is a representative villa in a large park; the fundamental shape was designed and partially built by the home builder František Novák from Vizovice. Tomas Bata asked Jan Kotěra to complete the work who carried out several changes in the disposition of the building. He mainly modified the central two story hall. He also made alterations to the outside appearance and made the architecture of the interior much simpler. The villa was sited in the back part of a beautifully selected and large piece of land in Čepkov with views of the untouched nature above the river Dřevnice. Between the years 1911- 15 Kotěra´s garden house was added. Later the park was cut through by a dual-carriage way (the street Gahurova).
2. The Villa of Jan Antonín Bata
Zlín - centrum města, ulice Osvoboditelů 187
architect: firm Zlámal and Plaček, or F. L. Gahura
finished in (project): 1927 (1926)
the owner and user: Czech Radio, Vinohradská 12, Praha 2
The villa is a significant monument in remembrance of Jan Antonín Bata who led the company after the death of his step brother Tomas, the founder of the company. It is architecturally (as well as in size) a modest building. The style of the house is embraced in the spirit of the early Kotěra “modem” very civilian character of architecture. The building is currently used as the seat of Czech Radio-studio Zlín.
3. The Villa of MUDr. Bohuslav Albert
Zlín, Zálešná, Havlíčkovo nábřeží 3019
architect: František Lydie Gahura
finished in (project): 1928 (1927)
the owner and user: Bata District hospital (Krajská nemocnice Tomáše Bati)
The villa is a part of the hospital premises and it is situated on the outskirts of them.
It was built for doctor MUDr. Albert who was the head doctor and director of Bata hospital. The building is a documentation of the Spartan style of Gahura´s architecture represented by the inferiority to the whole complex with industrial windows and austere esthetics as well as its disposition.
4. The villa of the architect Vladimír Karfík
Zlín, Nad Ovčírnou, U Lomu 629
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in: 1935
the owner and user: a private person
The detatched house is a part of a small family like living complex surrounded by woods. It was one of the four finished sample houses which won an award in the international architecture competition held by Bata´s company in 1935 (among the judges was also the French Architect Le Corbusier). The competition was set to find other types of company houses. Although none of the house designs which won never went into mass produiction, nowadays they are by right considered one of the few European expositions of modern living. The house received the third prize in the competition. It is designed in the spirit of Bata architecture with its dual level space solution, “American” windows and interpenetration to the exterior it significantly singles itself out though. It is still one of the most beautiful buildings in Zlín; Vladimir Karfík lived here with his family for 10 years.
5. The Villa of director Hugo Vavrečka
Zlín, Mokrá, Stráže 3661
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1941 (1939)
the owner and user:ALLWOOD, a. s.
The villa is divided into two vertical wings – living and serving. The architect Vladimír Karfík designed each of the director villas in the style that was asked by the client. The director Hugo Vavrečka required Jan Kotěra, style of building; the result is though more a demonstration of the robust architecture of the late functionalism of the 1940´s rather than a work that would resemble Kotěra´s modern style.
6. The Villa of director Josef Hlavnička
Zlín, Mokrá, Stráže 3662
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1941 (1938)
owner: ALLWOOD, a.s., Kvítková 4703, Zlín
user: EP Kapitál Group, a.s., Stráže 3662, Zlín
In the case of this villa the client also asked the designer Vladimír Karfík to create a house in a specific architecture style. In the case of director Josef Hlavnička it was meant to be the colonial style. Rather a conservative composition of the disposition of the house and the facade of the building combines symmetry with asymmetry. On the facade of the building some elementsin the shade of sand were created from artificial stone, other areas are covered with rendering that is due to its rough structure in contrast with the other features. Though the house does not belong to the masterpieces of Vladimír Karfík´s extensive works it is proof of his ability to invigorate various architectural concepts.
7. The Villa of director Dominik Čipera
Zlín, Burešov 3675
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1942 (1939)
owner: Centrum pro postižené a ohrožené děti, Burešov 3675, Zlín
The villa is typical with its rational classicism of the 1930´s that is based on the architectural style modem. The quality of the house is based on the harmonic connection with the park and sensitive work with the materials. Within the architect´s works it has a unique position as it materializes some of the ideas of Adolf Loose. A characteristic – not used elsewhere – the detail of the building is the grid windows hidden behind the concrete bar that is veneered on the outside. The work with the veneer is also noticeable – a darker colour is used in the edginh of corner parts, the space above the thresholds and horizontal lines on the building facade, a lighter colour is used as an infill that is structured with irregularly placed tiles that are yet again dark.
The house of the gardener – the doorkeeper of Čipera´s villa
Zlín, Burešov 3674
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1941 (1940)
owner: Centrum pro postižené a ohrožené děti, Burešov 3675
The house is interesting from several points of view: a sharp prism made out of the rye brickwork that is based on Bata´s minimal family houses, it differentiates though due to the tent roof as well as it moderate classical form. The disposition of the house that elaborates around the middle based chimney as well as the various concepts of the four building facades it resembles the ideas of F. L.Wright and Adolf Loose. The quality of the house is based on the harmonic connection with the park and the villa in the spirit of the English country manor house.
8. The Villa of director František Malota
Zlín, Lazy I. 3689
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1943 (1941)
owner: private person
user: Dětský domov rodinného typu, Zlín
Director František Malota chose for his villa Rhineland pre-Hitler style. When looking at the ground plan of the house it is not possible to miss the organic disposition of the house and its connection with the garden. This concept draws the many of Karfík´s projects to the works of F. L. Wright. A significant detail of the building can be seen in the case of the corner wrapped windows and dormer-windows that are partially sunk into the brickwork of the wall beams. Both of these elements are unique in Zlín. There are many well-preserved original devices still kept inside the interior of the house.
9. The Villa of Ludvík Malota
Zlín, Paseky, K Pasekám 3679
architect: Zdeněk Plesník
finished in (project): 1942 (1941)
owner: private person
The family villa of Ludvík Malota, the owner of a confectionery, wine bar and distillery, was originally built as a two flat building – the second flat was designed for one of the sons of Ludvík Malota called Karel. From the architectural point of view, it is a very well made piece, the mass of the house that is enclosed to the street then opens to the garden with a corner terrace that is constricted by both wings of the house in order to enable the direct exit from the living room quarters to the garden to give an esthetic view as well as protection from the elements. The original inbuilt furniture also creates a part of the architectural features of the house and is also the work of architect Plesník. The villa is an important masterpiece of the non-Bata architecture of the 1940´s.
10. Zikmund´s villa
Zlín, Nivy, Žlebová 2894
architect: Zdeněk Plesník
finished in: 1953
owner and user: Ing. Miroslav Zikmund
TIt is a free standing residential villa of the 1930´s that was adopted for the same purpose in the 1950´s. The house of the explorer Ing.Miroslav Zikmund creates along with the neighbouring house of Ing.Jiří Hanzelka and the house of the conductor Zdeňek Liška (Kudlov) a unique collection of three post-war villas. These buildings are connected by the architect as well as by the clients. Zdeněk Liška was a music composer for Hanzelka+Zikmund ´s films. The villas are a unique example of the post-war development from the noble first republic villa into the villa of the second half of the 20th century. A stylish originality that is hard to be seen elsewhere that informally develops the architecture of Bata´s Zlín. Unlike the other two, though the house of Miroslav Zikmund was not a newly built house but an adaptation of an older villa.
11. Hanzelka´s villa
Zlín, Nivy, Žlebová 1590
architect: Zdeněk Plesník
finished in (project): 1955 (1953 - 54)
owner and user: town Zlín, Rehabilitační stacionář
The villa of Jiří Hanzelka stands on the slope slightly higher than Zikmund´s villa and has a pyramid like composition (topped by an American Collins transmitter on the roof of the house that were visible from a great distance). It quite differentiates to the organized concept of Zikmund´s villa and symbolically dominates the building development Niv. An evident exaggeration of the scale and size of Hanzelka´s villa is due to the dimension of the area for the sound of the organ that was lent by professor Reinberger from Prague. In 1958 Jiří Hanzelka gave the house to the town with the condition that a full time nursery was established there.
12. Liška´s villa
Zlín, Kudlov, Filmová 308
architect: Zdeněk Plesník
finished in (project): 1959 (1956)
owner: private person
The house of the music conductor Zdeňek Liška (among others the author of the music accompanying the films Markéta Lazarová, Údolí včel, Obchod na korze, Vynález zkázy, Vyšší princip, as well as Hanzelka and Zikmund´s films) is one of the remarkable buildings of the post-war era. The connection between the house and the garden in the case of Liška´s villa is the most developed the living quarters are connected with the residential part of the garden with the swimming pool through a pergola. This organic connection is strictly geometrically composed. The harmonic connection of the house with the garden is aided by a sensitive choice of materials (natural stone, brick, and concrete castings in sand like colour). All thee villas (Zikmund´s, Hanzelka´s and Liška´s) are characterized by precise solutions in which the architect aimed to achieve a continuous living area interspersed with the garden. For the pre-war villas the separation of living and serving quarters was typical. Here these two parts coexist as one complex. The living quarters are characterized with the emphasis on generosity and clarity, the functional connections are masterfully managed, and the minimal distance and space is effectively organized with the help of the inbuilt furniture.
13. Gerbec´s villa
Zlín, Zálešná I. 3222
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1938 (1937)
owner and user: municipality Zlín/Středisko osobní hygieny Domovinka, Zálešná I. 3222
The villa of Ludvík Gerbec (in 1938 he was the head of the calculations department of Bata´s company in Best in Holland and since 1939 he was the head of Bata´s company in Belcamp in America) it is one of the most significant works of Vladimír Karfík. The opened space of the house was finished off by flat ledges which resemble the prairie houses of F. L. Wright. This compositionally refined piece is marked by many modifications due to utility issues and extensions.
14. The house of Vincenc Krajča
Zlín, Zálešná, tř. 2. května 2728
architect: Miroslav Lorenc
finished in (project): 1935 (1934/35)
owner: private owner
The house of Vincenc Krajča – a butcher – in Zlín was built by one of the main streets of the town. Originally it was meant to finish off the terraced buildings and it was meant as an axially symmetric dual house. The first half of the house was built on the side towards Januštice with the condition to finish the building of the second part within 3 years – the second part was never done though. The house is an example of top quality preserved architecture of the 1930´s with many noticeable details and building facades.
15. Gahura´s house
Zlín, Kudlov 6
architect: František Lydie Gahura
finished in (project): 1927, 1933, (1927, 1933)
owner and user: private person
Private house of the architect František Lydie Gahura and his family and it is a remarkable testament to his abilities. The first building period started with the modification of the former country house with its farming quarters. The second building period consisted of the demolition of the gable roof of the living quarters and construction of another floor for bedrooms and a bathroom. It was due to the readability of the development of Gahura´s opinions that the house is a unique monument and to a certain extent it illustrates the relationship with Bata´s architecture and local building traditions. The interior of the house is helped with Gahura´s sculptures, a well preserved statue of a blacksmith, and a smaller version of the piece from the front of Zlín’s town hall.
16. The house of MUDr. Leopold Král
Zlín, Čepkov, Čepkovská 1792
architect: Miroslav Lorenc
finished in: 1930
owner: private person
The project and realization of the modest family house was in and hence it so far is one of the oldest known independent buildings by Lorenc (his first designs for the school buildings that were drawn between 1930 - 31 after his start at the building department of Bata´s company in June 1930).
17. Šťastný´s villa
Zlín, Čepkov, Pod Stráněmi 743
architect: unknown
finished in (project): 1940 (1939)
owner and user: private person
The house of the director of Bata´s stockings company and his family compounds to the group of directors´ villas that were designed by the architect Vladimír Karfík. Even though Karfík was probably not the direct architect of the design, the architectural concept and detail is so very close to the ones of the villas of the directors that his participation is very probable. Yet again it is program wise a non-functionalistic building. The house is well preserved including all detail and due to great maintenance it is still fully functional.
18. Villa of Bohuslav Ševčík
Zlín, Lazy, Na Požáře 2906
architect: Miroslav Lorenc
finished in: 1935
owner: private person
It was the house of the director of Bata´s industries and his family. The basic spacious concept is based on the contrast of the austere closed prism and organically shaped terrace – pedestal that optically turns the house facing the garden. The facade at the back of the house and the munificent staircase are also worth attention. It is one of the most preserved works of Miroslav Lorenc.
19. Villa of Dr. Hugo Forster
Zlín, Lazy, Hluboká 2654
architect: unknown
finished in (project): 1934 (1933)
owner: private person
The villa of the first Zlín notary working for Bata´s company who was by the way also present at the estate settlement of Tomas Bata. The building is unique in Zlín it is carried out in the expressionistic architectural style. While the outside part of the house is of a clear artistic character, the interior is typical with its historical concept of the living rooms and staircase. In some non-representative rooms a modern interior can also be found. Part of the architectural design was also a cascade garden with top quality design.
20. Sample family house of Berta Ženatý
Zlín, Nad Ovčírnou V/1573
architect: Berta Ženatý
finished in: 1928
owner and user: private persons and the town of Zlín
It is an above standard build family house that was built as a sample “one story American villa” based on the plans of Ing. Berta Ženatý and was owned by Bata´s support fund based in Zlín. It develops the American templates with the emphasis on practicality, economy and hygiene. In contrast with the house of V. Karfík and common Bata´s houses Ženatý´s concept is less ascetic.
21. Rojta´s villa
Zlín, Nad Ovčírnou, Nad Ovčírnou 3116
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1937 (1936)
owner and user: private persons
It is a free standing villa that is a part of a small living complex bordered by forest. The villa of the director of Bata´s cobbler’s workrooms Karel Rojta belongs among the many villas designed by V. Karfík. It is characterized by diverging house dispositions into the surrounding landscape in two vertical directions which reminds one of F. L. Wright.
22. Villa of Vojtěch Bata
Zlín, Paseky, Pasecká 3369 a 277
architect: Vladimír Karfík
finished in (project): 1940 (1939)
owner: private person
The villa was built for the family of Vojtěch Bata, the director of the building department of the company Bata, Ltd., the house nb.277 (see picture) for the parents of his wife Ludmila (born Mazalová). In the case of the villa of Vojtěch Bata Karfík strictly follows the exempt and noble position typical for Bata´s Zlín. The elegance of the house is in the proportions and detail. The house of the parents then represents more traditional position.
23. Bárta´s villa
Zlín, Fabiánka, Fabiánka 11/346
architect: Zdeněk Plesník
finished in (project): 1987 (1976)
owner: private person
The director Vladimír Bárta (born in 1931) worked in animated movies, his wife Dagmar Bártová was an artist in the mass production of shoes. The first project was made in 1978 by the architect Karel Zeman from Ostrava (the son of the director Karel Zeman). Afterwards architect Plesník was asked to design a new drawing. The house belongs to the group of Plesník´s villas that are centred in Zlín and surroundings. Bárta´s villa is a significant architectural work including the connection with the garden, fencing and hard surface. Up till 1945 there were a total of 2210 houses built in Zlín that give Zlín its character even today.
Sources:
- P. Všetečka, Zlín - pasportizace stavebních památek (zadavatel: Úřad města Zlína)
- Konzultant: ing. arch. Pavel Novák, hlavní architekt města Zlína