Looking at the present-day appearance of houses Nos. 70 and 71, a casual observer would hardly guess that they had been the subject of one of the most animated debates concerning architecture after the post-November 1989 period in Litomyšl. During the early 1990s, the town council decided to sell both buildings to a company called Senquar, which intended to make it into a department store, under the condition however, that designer of the reconstruction would be chosen through a public design competition. The jury composed of significant architects (e.g. Miroslav Masák and Emil Přikryl) and Prague Heritage Institute workers, chose a design by Josef Pleskot, Radek Lampa and Vladimír Krajíc, commending its “well-balanced affinity of mass and proportions”. Even though the project was never carried out, it became a significant milestone within the discourse concerning the preservation of Czech heritage.
The designers wanted to integrate two historical houses with front facades of varying widths into one homogeneous unit. House No. 70 (with a narrower facade) is an example of a typical Bohemian Maashaus, in whose ground floor beer was drawn. House No. 71 originally served as a guardhouse and was built in the Classicist period. In the 1930s, both buildings were joined together and underwent a Modernist-style reconstruction according to designs by František Vlach, and included sculptural decoration by Emil Kubíček. Heritage conservators of the time had misgivings about the alterations. From an artistic point of view, neither building was of great value. However, concerning heritage protection, the preserved historical construction elements of both buildings (namely the Gothic masonry) were of great value. From an urbanism point of view, the characteristic narrow, Gothic layout of house No. 70 is also of great value.
The architects did not preserve the original floor plan of both houses but endorsed the historical context of the town square in a different manner. Whilst towards the town square, the building was to follow the line of the neighbouring houses, towards Vodní valy Street, it was to be of a more complex shape in size, following the surrounding built-up area with its picturesque nooks and crannies and courtyards. The architects wanted to repeat the rhythm of the arcade on the building's facade with the help of square-section columns which would carry horizontal lintels. However, as the neighbouring houses feature archways, the public were not overwhelmed by the design. The architect Pleskot, in addressing such criticisms, noted that “Things being in context does not mean that they should be identical”. The public were disenchanted with the Modernist look of the building, differing distinctly from those around it, whereas the architects considered the scale of the building to be fundamental, not its appearance.
The Heritage Institute in Pardubice rejected the project, as it planned on demolishing the original masonry, did not respect the original floor plan and thus, did not abide to the competition rules. The architects could have seen the Heritage Institute's restrictions as a motivating factor, and could have introduced more contradictions, as they did in the case of later plans for the reconstruction of the town hall in Benešov. Conversely, the Heritage Institute could have been less strict and not be so obsessed with the historical mass of the building which, in itself, is of no value for town life. The breakdown of the discourse between the Heritage Institute and the architects was undoubtedly a lost opportunity.
The present-day appearance of the building, designed by Martin Havlík in 1998, and featuring a sculpture of Adam and Eva by Olbram Zoubek and an illuminated artwork by Jiří David, is a compromise. The building can be seen as a characteristic example of architecture attempting to reconcile itself with the Heritage Institute, whilst forfeiting its own appearance in the process – resulting in uncontroversial, yet bland architecture. The building is occupied by the Litomyšl family firm Kubík, the Gallery of Miroslav Kubík and two flats with a rooftop garden.
