The Müller Villa National Cultural Monument in Prague is presented through an exposition of the exteriors and the fitted interiors. The building has been returned to its original 1930 appearance, including appropriate furnishings and all of the components of the original technical fittings. The installation is complemented by a permanent exhibition devoted to the architect, Adolf Loos, and the history of the creation of the Müller Villa, with attention also paid to the renovation and restoration of the Villa.
In addition to ensuring high standards in the running of the Villa and the high quality of the tour regime, the Museum intends to renew the idea of the house as a kinds of cultural and intellectual centre. It was for this purpose that the Adolf Loos Study and Documentation Centre was established, enabling the professional public to undertake exhaustive studies into the architectural works of Adolf Loos, encompassing the specific cultural conditions, influences and contexts including broader relationships and the overall climate of the period. The Centre offers research and consultancy services, organises professional seminars and training for guides, and conducts independent scientific research into questions regarding the works of Loos and his pupils in the context of Modern architecture around the world.
The Study Centre in the Müller Villa has become a meeting place for experts in architecture and the graphic arts, and is an important platform for the interpretation of Modern and contemporary architecture. It provides a stimulus for saving the architectural and ideological inheritance of Adolf Loos in the Czech Lands




SDC RESOURCES

1. Documents and plans archive

• The SDC brings together, processes and makes available to scholars documents, plans and other archive materials associated with the Villa, the life and work of architect Adolf Loos and his pupils, the Müller family and the Kapsa & Müller company.
• A particularly attractive group of materials comprises copies of original architectural sketches, plans and sections of the Müller Villa by Adolf Loos and Karel Lhota, in which it is possible to trace the development of the concept of the house and its maturing into the final form of "Raumplan".
  
• Materials relating to the renovation and restoration of the Villa are also available, including for example structural-historical surveys, architectural studies, projects, restorers' reports and photodocumentation.
  

2. Three-dimensional objects depository

The SDC draws together samples of all kinds of original and reconstructed structural and other materials used in building the Villa and fitting out its interiors, both from the time of its construction (1930), and from the time of its renovation and restoration (1997 - 2000).


• There are objects here relating to the building or to the Müller family.
• Part of the depository contains a large collection of copies of details of the fittings within the house, made to the Museum's orders during the renovation and restoration.
  

3. Audio archive

• The SDC makes available recordings with eyewitnesses, who have provided a great deal of important information regarding the building of the Villa, the life of the Müller family, etc.
  
• There is also a growing collection of recordings of professional seminars held within the framework of the SDC's own "Adolf Loos Workshops" programme.
  

4. Video archive

• The video archive contains all of the documentaries filmed about the Müller Villa.
  
• The film showing Adolf Loos in the M?ller Villa library during celebrations marking Eva Müllerová's birthday in 1930 is unique.
  

Ž5. Photo archive

• Part of the archive comprises reproductions of archive photographs taken as early as 1930.
  
• The archive also contains a collection photographs taken in the 1970's and 1980's.
  
• A large collection of photographs documents the state of the building immediately prior to reconstruction; the 180 colour diapositives of the Villa after renovation and restoration are the SDC's greatest treasure.
  

6. The library

• The library contains literature relating directly to the works of Adolf Loos, the M?ller Villa and Modern architecture, as well as literature relating to his circle of important architectural friends.
  
• The library also contains architectural journals.
  

  The SDC reference library is built up using the following plan:
  

1. Copies of period articles about Adolf Loos published in the Czech Lands (where possible original offprints and reprints from accessible period journals).
   
2. Copies of period critiques relating to Adolf Loos.
   
3. Domestic publications about Loos, the M?ller Villa and others of Loos' projects.
   
4. Contemporary articles on the renovation and restoration of the M?ller Villa.
   
5. Literature on the renovation and restoration of other monuments of Modern architecture.
   
6. Foreign-language literature on the above themes.
   
7. Contextual professional literature on Modern architecture.
   
8. Contextual and analogous literature (architectural space, interiors etc.).
   

WORK AT THE SDC

Work with researchers


• The SDC offers scholars its services every day by prior appointment.
  
• On the basis of research accreditation, scholars may be offered the chance to study for free within the authentic environment of the M?ller Villa. We offer expert consultancy, and undertake professional research ourselves. Archive materials may be copied to order and at cost.
  
• The SDC publishes detailed 'Instructions for Researchers'.
  

Education


• The SDC organises educational and creative programmes for students at high schools and universities, with an emphasis on the graphic arts and architecture.
  
• The SDC also arranges a project entitled "The M?ller Villa: a family home as stage for the cultural life and personal dramas of its owners", with the working title "Adolf Loos Workshops". This project is aimed primarily at young, artists starting out (mainly students from the later years of vocational high schools) who have an interest in Modern architecture.
  

Exhibitions


The SDC prepares and puts together:


• scenarios for large exhibitions on Modern and contemporary architecture, which are offered for the exhibitions programme of the City of Prague Museum.
  
• smaller exhibitions preparing the results of the SDC's professional activities.
  
• interactive working exhibitions presenting the results of educational and creative programmes.
  
• small exhibitions on Modern architecture and lifestyle.
  
• interactive exhibitions of student work in the Villa itself.