Text: Monika KRÁLOVÁ, Photo: Vladimír VAVREK, article in Slovak magazine PEKNÉ BÝVANIE 07/ 2010
Timeless / Modern even after years / Modern then and today
Hardly you would have guessed this villa´s age as 63 years. On the contrary, its mass, shape and curves resemble the modern architecture of the present.
And yet, its origins date back to 1947. Back then, as one of the first, the house found itself in a sunny hillside on the outskirts of the Bratislava, and silently watched the city grows around. Spacious residence, presenting the spirit of functionalism, is now part of a densely built quarter near the city centre. Ideal setting to a slope, simplicity of lines, clean forms, and a thoughtful conception, have made it after reconstruction possible to create comfortable and cozy living with the advantages of present days.
After long hesitation, the owner decided for an alternative to embark on a demanding reconstruction of the parent’s residence. Persuading factors were the relationship with the house and its equipment, and the size of the building allowing to create three separate dwelling units for individual family members. The highest part, with a beautiful terrace and view, nowadays dwells the father, the lowest belongs to the brother. We visited the middle part where our host and his girlfriend live.
The villa was built by the owner´s grandfather. The ground floor consisted of a daily social zone represented by a living room, a spacious work room and a dining room. A night zone was upstairs with a bedroom and a non-traditional large spacious bathroom. The villa also had several unprecedented technical facilities for that age, such as a shower cabinet made of coloured glass panels with several shower nozzles or underfloor heating. The building was finally completed. It was left to finish some details and a garden. It seemed as if nothing has stood on the way to a comfortable living. Wrong. A political upheaval took place in 1948. The authorities confiscated the villa, the premises in the house were called excessive, other tenants joined the old grandfather’s family. Although the villa was long-term occupied, she was gradually deteriorating. The biggest problem was the frequent roof and terraces leakage, badly sealing windows and dilapidating wiring.
The homeowner did not want to reconstruct gradually, but all at once instead. And it did well indeed. The division of the villa into three dwelling units required large construction interventions in the form of a pile attachment, the addition of main door opening and changes in the interior layout. The owner asked for help architect Gabriela Fukatschová from Modulor Architectural Studio.
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