A unique exhibition at the House of Art in Ostrava will present remarkable buildings. Fifty buildings from the past two centuries, showcased in both the publication and the exhibition titled Famous Villas of the Moravian-Silesian Region, offer an overview of the villa culture in the region. The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava has joined the project Famous Villas of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia by preparing the exhibition and the book launch. Between 2007 and 2009, the project realized the publication of thirteen new lavish books about villas and family residences from each Czech region, covering the period from the mid-19th century to the present, alongside thirteen ceremonial exhibitions and book launches in respective regional cities. Famous Villas of the Moravian-Silesian Region is the tenth exhibition in the series.

The territory of northern Moravia and part of the former Austrian Silesia, which today forms this region, was historically rather peripheral in artistic and cultural life. Nevertheless, the local villa architecture represents an interesting and to some extent distinctive phenomenon. The development of mining and metallurgical industries in Ostrava, as well as textile production in western Silesia, already in the 19th century created economic conditions for the construction of luxurious suburban residences.

At first, these were designed by local builders, but later increasingly by prominent Viennese architects. At the beginning of the 20th century, many villas were built following projects by local natives who underwent the radically modern training of Otto Wagner. The western part of the region boasts a number of remarkable villas designed by Leopold Bauer and Josef Hoffmann. Between the wars, the region ceased to be merely rural and dependent exclusively on external artistic influences. Remarkable creators worked here – primarily the brothers Lubomír and Čestmír Šlapeta.

During socialist Czechoslovakia, villa culture struggled, and its renaissance in this region occurred only after 1989, when family houses became an opportunity for formal experiments by young architects.

The theme of individual housing is not just a matter of the past or a closed chapter. On the contrary, we understand this topic as still living and current, as an issue that particularly requires active engagement from today’s architects and builders.

Martin Strakoš

Translated with the help of GPT chat.

Curators: Jiří Jůza, Petr Beránek