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Muzeum hlavnÌho mÏsta Prahy
...

The careful restoration of the Villa and its gardens, and the very sensitive installation of interiors, enable the visitor to experience the year 1930 in a place already written of with wonder and, thanks to a series of publications, known around the world.

Installing the original interiors makes it possible for visitors to fully come to terms with Loos' approach to fittings and to the creation of an environment for the life of its residents. In designing the building Loos acted not just as an architect, but also as a psychologist. This was of benefit to his creation, as he made a house and interiors for specific people and their individual needs. The great priority in the house is that it was not built for those passing it by, but for those living within.

The Müller Villa is one of the most authentic and most completely preserved of Adolf Loos' works, not only in its residential and representative spaces but also in its private spaces, such as the bathroom, lavatory, kitchen and bedrooms. The service areas of the house also survive: the laundry room, cellars, boiler room, garage etc.

The following sections will guide you through the most important of the spaces within the Müller Villa. Clicking on individual pictures will expand them to full-screen size. In several rooms there are also links to virtual reality guides (using QuickTime VR).

Among the most interesting spaces are the corridor, hall, living room, dining toom, kitchen, boudoir, library, bathroom, bedroom, gentleman's dressing room, lady's dressing room, children's room, Study and Documentation Centre, Japanese salon, photographic darkroom, terrace, boiler room and garage.


The corridor

The corridor is arresting with its unusual polychrome harmony, green-tinted opaque tiles and the deep terracotta colour of the floor and the frieze below the ceiling. The red radiator is deliberately set in a conspicuous location. Loos felt that technical elements should be not only part of the functional fittings of the house, but also deserved to contribute to the overall aesthetic appearance of the interiors.




The hall and cloakroom
Here too there is an interesting play of contrasting colours: the floor tiles are the earthy colour of terracotta, while the wooden panelling of the walls, with the repeated square motif known from others of Loos' interiors, is painted white. The colours of the space are rounded off by the surprisingly deep blue ceiling, the colour of an early evening Venetian sky. The hall includes a cloakroom with pegs and a mirror, set into a broad niche with Japanese hangings.


The living room
The living room was at the centre of the cultural life of the family and the wider circle of their friends. The composition of the room is outstanding evidence of Loos' original concept for the creation of space, known as "Raumplan". The living room is connected to the dining room on the mezzanine and with the lady's boudoir, to which a spiral staircase leads. The open staircase then continues on to the upper floors. The realisation of this spatial conception enabled the reduction of one entire wall to three load-bearing pillars, creating in this way an unusual, visually rich and articulated space. Various types of seating concentrate around the circular table in the centre. The two armchairs of similar shape and unusual appearance are striking in the contrasting colours of their velvet covers: one, intended for the master of the house, is olive green and somewhat larger, while the second, for the lady, is pink. In addition to still views of the living room a virtual tour has also been prepared.


The dining room
The centrepiece of the living room is a round table carried on a single octagonal leg. The tabletop can be enlarged by the insertion of one or two mahogany leaves to a diameter of 170 or 230 cm, offering enough space for 12 or 18 diners. The dining room has two open walls, to the living room and onto the stairs leading upstairs. The latter could be closed by hangings. Along one of the solid walls two cubes flank fitted furnishings include a folding syenite sideboard, above which Loos installed a group of oil paintings by the important Czech Symbolist, Jan Preisler.
In addition to still views of the dining room a virtual tour has also been prepared.


The kitchen
The kitchen fittings were extremely modern for the time of the Villa's building. They represent the "American kitchen", where overall the fittings were designed to make the preparation of food and the serving of the family as easy as possible. The kitchen furniture is made of soft wood, painted yellow. The small number of storage spaces in the kitchen was facilitated by the size of the pantry and the large number of shelves in the basement. The kitchen had a dumbwaiter linking it to the floor above.


The boudoir
The boudoir is the most articulated room in the house. Here, Loos jokingly composed a relatively small room according to the principles of "Raumplan", and divided it into two horizontal levels: the first, upper level comprises a narrow passage giving out onto a niche with corner seating, where the lady of the house could pass the time with friends, while sometimes following events in the living room, and the second, lower level was intended for Mrs Müller's afternoon rest.
In addition to still views of the budoir a virtual tour has also been prepared.


The library
The library appears very serious and formal, thanks in particular to the dark tones of the mahogany panelling and fitted shelving, as well as to the placing here of two dark leather couches. The original detailing of the writing desk confirms Loos' design of it. Opposite the desk is a large mirror, and beneath this a fireplace with Delftware tile cladding.


The bathroom
The bathroom is regarded as one of the most beautiful interiors in the house. It has been restored to its original condition, and contains luxurious Twyfords brand fittings.


The bedroom
The bedroom has furniture made from American pearwood. Above each bed is a standard lamp with a textile shade. The bedroom walls are covered with their original, restored tapestries with maritime motifs, brought from France.


The gentleman's dressing room
The gentleman's dressing room seems austere. The cupboards are of uniform appearance and are complemented by a wardrobe of the same height. The fitted wardrobes have sliding rails for coat hangers and there is a mirrors on the inside of the door. The airing cupboard has sliding shelves of the English type.



The lady's dressing room
The lady's dressing room is light and refined, as is also clear from its plan, which is not right-angled: one of the shorter walls finishes in an arc, into which three tall mirrors have been arranged. At the sides of the windows are two tall, cubist cupboards for shoes and hats; between them is a toiletry table with two rows of pegs on the side and a folding central leaf, with a mirror on the underside. The wardrobes have their original pivoted hangers joined by chains, and the airing cupboards have sliding shelves of the English type.


The children's rooms
The children's rooms have yellow and blue painted softwood furniture. The red radiators are again an irreplaceable coloured component. The playroom also contained a coloured blackboard.


The housekeeper's and maid's rooms
now housing the Adolf Loos Study and Documentation Centre (SDC)
The project to restore the Müller Villa building also included the creation of the Adolf Loos Study and Documentation Centre, which now occupies what were previously the housekeeper's and maid's rooms. The SDC aims to become an exclusive centre for research into and the interpretation of Loos' work, his pupils and followers, making it possible to broaden the importance and function of the building beyond the framework of merely being a static monument.


The Japanese Salon
The interior of this dining room in a Japanising style betrays the marks of coffee-house aesthetics of the 1920's and 1930's. It is of a type very popular at the time - a dining room with fitted buffet, above which was a mirror. The furniture was made to measure, painted green with black detailing. The round table on a single leg is similar in shape to that in the lower dining room. The light wood tabletop cannot, however, be expanded to match the number of diners. The couch at the end of the room, again set between two cubes, is upholstered using an unusual material - horsehair, which was cooling in the hot summer.


The photographic darkroom
Today this contains a permanent exhibition devoted to the life and work of Adolf Loos and the history of the Müller Villa. This exposition is not merely informative, but must also guide visitors through their spiritual discovery of the house.




The terrace
The terrace has an unpaired window which once framed the view of Prague Castle; today the view is partially obscured by the trees in the neighbouring garden. Water is available on the terrace - there is a shower here, as well as flowers in pots - according to eyewitnesses, originally set with golden nasturtiums.


The boiler room
The boiler room contains two original Stroebel boilers. These have survived along with the original tools for servicing them. The boiler room walls are white with a dark plinth, matching their original state. During reconstruction the central heating was linked to a gas boiler; the boiler room remains to document the technical outfitting of the period.


The garage
The garage was designed to hold two cars. Today it contains a single car of the period.