The villa of Marie Andrášková is one of the supreme examples of interwar architecture that goes beyond the limits of a strictly functionalist concept. With this building, the architect Lubomír Šlapeta succeeded in creating an exceptional combination of organic, dynamic forms with strictly rectangular ones, while at the same time adapting it perfectly to the landscaped terrain around Michalov Park.
Marie Andrášková, an emancipated businesswoman dealing in luxury shoes, chose Lubomír Šlapeta, an architect based in Olomouc, to design the villa. In 1940 she was impressed by his spectacular dynamic and organic sketch of a building that evoked a cruise ship. Šlapeta dispalyed a mastery of the ubiquitous skewed and rounded lines, which were completely different from Czech production, mainly thanks to his direct collaboration with Hans Scharoun and Adolf Rading, professors of the Wrocław Academy.
The three-storey (outwardly one-storey) building was built on a sloping plot of land in a residential area near Michalov Park, the terrain of which the architect had artificially raised. Thanks to the organic shaping of the above-ground floors, with their characteristic rounded edges and large terraces, the building blends in naturally with the terrain of its own garden, but also with the scenery of the adjacent park and surrounding buildings. In addition to the tubular railings of the terraces, its nautical character was also enhanced by the smaller size of the first floor – a “shipʼs bridge” – with a curved ground plan and a broken pitched roof. In contrast to the original sketch of a transparent, lightweight building, the resulting architectural expression is more robust, and far removed from “Scharoun-like” forms. The architect works with tectonic elements, such as organically-shaped “buttresses” made of white-faced bricks. Situated on elevated terrain, the high rounded walls of the ground floor resemble an almost impregnable fortress. As was the case with Karel Kovaříkʼs villa, the full-size, reinforced robustness of the house protected its inhabitants from the threats posed by the war, at least symbolically.
The centrepiece of the social area on the ground floor was a large, richly articulated living hall with a dining room, music room, and conservatory, which offered impressive panoramic views through a fully glazed semi-circular wall. A staircase leading to the first floor, with the bedrooms, was placed in the centre of the space. By turning the floor plan, an independently accessible two-storey apartment was created. A raised basement was also used. The architect Šlapeta also designed and furnished a substantial part of the interiors.
The villa was owned by the family until 1992, when it was sold to its current owners. It still serves a residential purpose and is in a very well-preserved condition. In 1995 it was declared an immovable cultural monument, although it had undergone partial reconstruction in the previous decades.
NK (translation by SG)
Selected literature
Vladimír Šlapeta – Pavel Zatloukal, Moderní architektura v Přerově, Památky a příroda. Časopis státní památkové péče a ochrany přírody, 1981, č. 3, pp. 129–147.
MM [Martina Mertová], Vila Marie Andráškové, in: Pavel Zatloukal (ed.), Slavné vily Olomouckého kraje, Olomouc 2007, pp. 153–155.
VŠ [Vladimír Šlapeta], Vila Marie Andráškové, in: Petr Pelčák – Vladimír Šlapeta, Lubomír Šlapeta – Čestmír Šlapeta. Architektonické dílo/Architectural work 1908–1983, Brno 2003, p. 177.
Sources
https://pamatkovykatalog.cz/rodinny-dum-19009061
Martina Horáčková, Architektura střední Moravy, 1918–1945: Přerov, Kroměříž, Bystřice pod Hostýnem, Holešov, Kojetín (diploma thesis), Katedra teorie a dějin výtvarných umění FFUP, Olomouc 2004.
