Iconic Houses. Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde.

•  International Iconic Houses Conference 2023 (22.–26. 5. 2023) more, tickets for the lectures buy here.

The exhibition is the prelude to the upcoming eponymous 7th International Iconic Houses Conference, which will be held between 21 and 26 May 2023. For the first time in history this conference brings almost hundred international top experts in the field of art and architecture to the Czech Republic to present curated residential gems of Czech architectural modernism. The exhibition at the Norbertov Centre maps these very works.

Twelve of the eighteen modern house museums presented are members of the prestigious international "Iconic Houses" network. It brings together nearly 200 exceptional 20th century houses, including Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye and Antoni Gaudí's Casa Milà. The exhibition is dominated by two of the most important monuments of modern architecture in the Czech Republic: Villa Müller in Prague, the work of Adolf Loos from 1928-1930 (in the care of the Prague City Museum) and Villa Tugendhat by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, realized in Brno in 1928-1930 (in the care of the Brno City Museum). The exhibition is conceived as a travelling exhibition with a first stop after Prague at Villa Tugendhat in Brno.

"For the first time ever, this exhibition presents an interesting collection of eighteen of the most important Czech house museums in one place - of architectural modernist monuments dating back to the early 20th century," said Maria Szadkowska, the exhibition curator, who at the City of Prague Museum, heads the Centre of Modern Architecture Monuments, of which the Müller and Rothmayer villas are an important part. "Each of the houses presented in the exhibition is worth a separate visit. The exhibition will thus be appreciated not only by experts but also by fans of modern architecture, as a kind of compass where to go in the Czech Republic on a trip in search of exceptional architecture."

The non-profit Iconic Houses network was founded in 2012 on the initiative of architectural historain Natascha Drabbe, an independent Dutch curator and manager of cultural projects. It brings together exceptional houses built in the 20th century, mainly in Europe and North America, that were designed as a primary home. These houses were so exceptional for their time that they are now open to the public as so-called house museums. They embody not only the diversity of architectural styles of the 20th century, but also the diversity of lifestyles of this period, which was characterised by cultural diversity and emancipation.