The five-storey apartment building at Smetanova 53 was built by Fritz Schmeer in 1905 and was most probably designed by Vladimír Fischer. In 1904–1906, Schmeer built or renovated this entire block of Smetanova Street (nos. 51–55), plus the buildings around the corner at Cihlářská 14 and Lidická 45. It would seem that the successful collaboration between the German developer and the Czech architect, which only ended with the First World War, began with precisely these buildings. Schmeer’s construction company had its offices at Lidická 45, which Schmeer renovated in 1905. Its facade is decorated with symbols of the builders’ guild and a bust of Brno’s most prominent Late Gothic builder, Anton Pilgram. In 1911, Schmeer moved his company to his ‘Swedish House’ at Smetanova 41. He also initially owned Smetanova 53, Smetanova 51 / Cihlářská 12 and Cihlářská 14, which he rented out as residential properties.
Stylistically, the above-mentioned apartment buildings on Smetanova and the neighbouring streets can be considered eclectic architecture in that they are inspired by various styles. Their diverse, flat, yet structured facades do not deny a certain influence from geometric Art Nouveau, though only Smetanova 53 expresses the vibrant spirit of Art Nouveau vitalism, manifested in particular by the stucco mascarons and the elaborate tangles of organic lines rendered in stucco and metal. These elements are concentrated on the central part of the otherwise relatively statically composed five-bay facade: a rounded oriel on the second and third floors, topped by a balcony with a metal railing that is covered by a similarly rounded metal canopy. Above this, an ornamental metal gable is embedded in the manneristically segmented cornice. The pair of mascarons on the upper part of the oriel may be allegories of the wind; in the area between the oriel’s windows is a relief of the Medusa with coils of snakes for hair, which may have fulfilled the role of an apotropaia, a protective charm to ward off evil. Alternatively, it may have referred to one of the rarest items on display at the picture gallery of the Emperor Francis Museum (today the Moravian Gallery in Brno), the painting Medusa by Peter Paul Rubens. The two mascarons above the entrance portal may well be references to the central motif of the Medusa, for they are bordered by ropes – attributes of seafaring (the Medusa was the daughter of the sea god Phorcys). The building’s courtyard elevation is distinctively articulated in the manner typical for Schmeer and Fischer, for they preferred this solution to the use of light shafts.
Surprisingly, this relatively well-preserved building is not specifically listed as a cultural monument. It is protected only by virtue of its location within the protective zone of the Brno Urban Conservation Area and the buffer zone of Villa Tugendhat.
Aleš Filip
