“Such a jewel”: Prague’s modernist Villa Müller reopens to visitors
One of Czechia’s most celebrated modernist buildings, Prague’s Villa Müller, has just reopened after renovations. A presentation on Wednesday also included the launch of a book about the villa, co-authored by leading Dutch architect Winy Maas.
Prague’s Villa Müller is now once again open to the public after an 18-month gap. The famous modernist structure had to undergo repairs after water leaked from its magnificent roof terrace.
Matěj Sladký is from the City of Prague Museum, which has operated Villa Müller since the start of the 1990s.
“Previously closed rooms have been opened to the public. All the windows have been restored, small-scale work has been carried out and the interiors have been cleaned.”
The villa in leafy Střešovice was commissioned by wealthy businessman František Müller and construction was completed, according to a plan by Adolf Loos and Karel Lhota, in 1930.
During the period of Communist rule it housed various organisations, including the Institute of Marxism-Leninism.
Winy Maas is today an internationally renowned architect. But the Dutchman first came to the building in 1984, as part of a student group exploring modern Czechoslovak architecture. A maid had smuggled them in early one morning.
“We were surprised by what we saw here. First there was a smell of charcoal and the smell of dust. The smell of alcohol and vomit. There were mattresses on the ground. In one corner there was one person sleeping, others were sleeping in other rooms. We had one hour to measure the Raumplan before the employees came in. So we did that with pain in our hearts – to see such a jewel like that.”
The Raumplan referred to means “spatial plan”. Developed by architect Loos, it involved creating rooms or spaces at different levels, connected by a complex sequence of stairs and platforms.
It also helped give the title to (T)Raumplan, a book by Maas and collaborators, exploring the Villa Müller, that was launched there on Wednesday.
Loos also used the ground-breaking Raumplan in other designs, but Maas is among the many who regard this as the best example.
“The sequence of rooms is not only concentrated on one floor – it is on nearly all the floors. And the sequence is, you come in and you have a small room. You can sit on a bench and look to the right and see that it continues, with a stair that goes around a corner. Then you enter another room and it has a view to a salon, not in a straight way but kind of hidden. So you continue step by step, from salon to salon, from bedroom to dressing room and up to the roof. I think this is the building that shows this sequence the best.”
Villa Müller can only be visited as part of organised groups of no more than eight people. There are six tours a day, Wednesday to Sunday, including two in English.
