This apartment building with a radical Art Nouveau facade characterized by remarkably dynamic decoration is an example of a more modern adaptation of the traditional pawlatsch-style building. The three-storey town house’s six-bay street elevation is divided into a horizontally structured ground floor and vertically composed upper floors, where vertical elements produce the illusion of a central avant-corps and of a giant order separating the window bays. The ground floor is covered in banded rustication of varying widths. The facade’s basic geometric articulation is defined by a regular grid of rectangular windows. The central part of the facade is accentuated by a distinctly raised arch around the upper-floor windows that transitions into a rounded triangular gable with an arched gablet on top. The street frontage is topped by a strongly protruding cornice above a prominent band of relief stucco ornamentation consisting of intersecting pointed arches.
The rich high-relief Art Nouveau stuccowork is concentrated primarily in the areas above the windows: waving ribbons and vases with flowers above the first-floor windows, and vegetal and geometric motifs above the second-floor windows. In the middle of the facade, the area between the first-floor and second-floor windows contains a floral motif surrounded by ribbons in the shape of a so-called ‘smoke curve’, a motif reminiscent of a wisp of smoke from a cigarette. These elements are complemented by the use of alternating smooth and horizontally scored coarse plaster.
The uniform interior layout was that of a traditional pawlatsch building, meaning that the residential units were accessed via a courtyard-facing gallery. Two small units were located on either side of the entrance on the ground floor. The interiors on both upper floors were identical, with three small one-room apartments. From the pawlatsch gallery, one first entered into the kitchen, which then led to the living space with two windows overlooking the street. The shared toilet was located on the gallery. A narrow courtyard wing attached to the main building at a right angle had a similar access gallery. The building received a water connection in 1927, before which water had to be brought from a well in the courtyard.
The building long suffered from a lack of maintenance, and by the year 2000 it found itself in a very neglected state. Although the main elevation lost some of its original stylistic character during a comprehensive renovation project in 2014, many other stylistic elements were nevertheless restored, and the building was reimbued with its original Art Nouveau decorativeness.
Pavla Cenková