Villa Tugendhat – the icon of the modernist architecture 

Villa Tugendhat, designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001, is one of the most iconic examples of modernist / functionalist architecture in the world. The Villa - designed by the German-American architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - was built from reinforced concrete between 1928 and 1930.

 

What makes the Villa unique?

• For the first time in the history of Czechoslovakian architecture builders used a steel supporting structure based on columns with a cross shaped cross-section, during the construction of a private house
• The onyx wall, found in the hall of the Villa, is made from a white-veined, honey-coloured yellow rock and was mined in the Atlas Mountains, in former French Morocco. The unique characteristics of the onyx wall are especially evident on sunny winter days with some veins seen to be gleaming red when lit by the sunset.
• One of the original stone elements used is near-white Italian travertine - which was quarried in the region of Tivoli.
• The two large windows, opposite the onyx wall and the dining area, can be retracted all the way to the floor by electric motors.
• The innovative technical utility equipment in the house, in particular, the hot-air heating system, which provides a combination of heating, cooling and humidification.

To learn more; visit the Villa for yourself, or have a look at its homepage.

Brno: where the past meets the future

Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic and enjoys a favourable location in the south-eastern part of the country - 120km from Bratislava and Vienna, and only 200km from the Czech capital city, Prague. The city's origins date back to prehistoric times, the town's direct predecessor was a fortified settlement of the Great Moravian Empire, which was inhabited from the Neolithic Age until the early 11th century.

What to know about Brno?

• Špilberk castle, one of the most dominant features of Brno since the 13th century, was the most feared prison in the Austro-Hungarian empire, and known infamously as “the dungeon of nations“.
• Kostnice u sv. Jakuba (the Ossuary at the Church of St James) is the second-largest ossuary in Europe, after the catacombs of Paris. This place of reverence contains the interred remains of over 50,000.
• The historically famous "Battle of the Three Emperors" (the Battle of Austerlitz), was fought near the city in December 1805. Napoleon is known to have spent several nights in the city.
• For almost three centuries Brno was one of the world’s leading industrial textile towns, dubbed as ‘the Moravian Manchester’.
• The groundwork for modern genetics were laid in Brno in 1866, by Gregor Johann Mendel, who published the famous paper ‘Experiments on Plant Hybridisation’.
• Brno boasts many renowned architectural jewels, including wonderful examples of functionalism and Art Nouveau.
• Brno is also an important centre for higher education, with 33 faculties belonging to 13 institutes of higher learning, as well as being home to about 89,000 students.

 

FCC Environment CEE in Brno

Our company has been present in Brno since 1991. We collect waste from inhabitants using our truck fleet, operate collection yards and treat waste for recyclables using the separation line and RDF line. We also maintain the streets in the summer & wintertime, take care of green areas, provide complex waste management services to companies, as well as offering container rental to private customers.