The group of terraced houses designed between 1972 and 1973 for the area of town not yet built up near Benátská Street (nationalized land originally belonging to the nearby Villa “Grácie”), is an exceptional set of the first unquestionably modern terraces in Litomyšl. The successful design is proof of the persistent desire of inhabitants for individual housing during the Normalization period when family homes were seen as undesirable and the accent was on collective housing.
The atypical distinctive project with twin-flat terraced houses located on sloping terrain was carried out between 1972 and 1973 by the local builder Miroslav Vach in cooperation with the master joiner František Vajrauch, the initiator of the whole project and whose home had been demolished as a result of the re-development of the Bělidla Quarter in Litomyšl.
The project, which received an honour from the town council, is the result of experiments with modern materials and shapes, reflecting the influence of the so-called Brussels Style, which favoured dynamic compositions with trapezoid and conical shapes, and asymmetrical in principle. The individual 9 x 12 m, narrow and deep sections are gradually stepped back from each other, thus creating a uniquely-shaped, bevelled gable facade and gently sloping skillion roof, reminiscent of the popular and widespread “šumperák” house design (examples of which can be seen in Litomyšl in Peciny Street – see 03-196). The wide range of materials used (blocks, dark cladding tiles, terrazzo slabs, stone slabs) depended on their current availability at the time.
The investors carried out the construction work on a DIY basis which, as the instruction manuals of the period stated, meant that “if possible, all work should be done by owners themselves, relatives and friends, so as not to draw the workforce away from investment development work.” Today, the houses still look authentic, without any significant modifications disrupting the original architectural design.
AŠ – LB
