By the beginning of the 20th century, Franz Pawlu was already an established architect with numerous projects under his belt, in particular apartment buildings that he owned himself. The facades of the two houses on Hlinky and Výstavní Streets represent his first use of a purely Secessionist (Art Nouveau) form, in clear reference to Otto Wagner’s contemporaneous work in Vienna (such as the now-iconic houses he built on the Linke Wienzeile in 1898). Pawlu took an almost identical approach to both buildings (the one facing Hlinky Street is wider by one window bay), involving the use of balconies to give the facade a greater sense of verticality. The lower balconies rest on cast-iron corbels and the upper ones are visually connected via the cast-iron columns that hold up their floor beams. The organically flowing décor of the balcony railings contrasts with the facades’ strictly symmetrical stucco ornamentation. The spaces between the windows on the uppermost floors are decorated with medallions depicting the classical muses. Below the medallions is a band of palm branches. The Výstavní Street elevation has a much higher entryway, which further promotes the overall verticality of a design that is otherwise identical to the building on Hlinky Street.
The buildings’ Art Nouveau decorativeness is also reflected in their common areas: staircases with ribbon-like railings, occasionally preserved Art Nouveau grilles covering the entrances to the units, geometrically complex tiling, and doors and fanlights with sandblasted glass decoration.
A somewhat surprising element is the fact that the buildings’ avant-corps staircases are connected by passages on two floors. But there is a simple explanation. When the houses were built, present-day Výstavní Street – although it was already planned – did not yet exist. Until the late 1920s, this building’s front elevation faced a garden, and both houses were accessed from Hlinky Street. Both houses still serve their original purpose, although the local context changed significantly in the second half of the 20th century. A set of prefabricated apartment blocks was built on Výstavní Street, though the new development respects the street line and height of the original houses from the beginning of the century.
The Hlinky-Výstavní double house is a classic example of Franz Pawlu’s Art Nouveau architecture, right alongside with his apartment building on Veveří Street (B098) and Tivoli tenement complex on Konečného náměstí (B108). Pawlu additionally was a capable entrepreneur with a sense for building at desirable addresses offering luxury residential comfort. Both streets lead to Pisárky, a popular destination for day trips and a villa district inhabited by wealthy residents of Brno.
Matěj Kruntorád
