The House of Antonie and Václav Suk
The largest villa in the Baba estate was built for the successful building entrepreneur Václav Suk and was designed by the talented architect and designer Hana Kučerová-Záveská from Pavel Janák’s class at UMPRUM in Prague. She combined the Czech environment with inspiration from Le Corbusier’s famous Stein Villa in Garches near Paris, especially in the staircase hallway of the house, which allowed for a separate entrance to the owner’s study. She also designed the interior of the house, including the minimalist furniture. By the late 1930s, the façade had been given ceramic cladding, and in the mid-1960s, the villa was extended to accommodate two apartment units.
Architect
Hana Kučerová-Záveská
(*1904 Prague +1944 Stockholm)
An architect, publicist, and progressive furniture and interior designer; a student of Pavel Janák at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. As a member of the Czechoslovak Werkbund, she subscribed to the ideology of modern architecture: purposefulness of the floor plan, simple furniture which is comfortable yet affordable, and liberation of women from unnecessary housework. She commenced a successful cooperation with the Artěl association, as well as the furniture company Spojené uměleckoprůmyslové závody (UP) in Brno. Her furniture for the Barrandov terraces (1929) was later produced in series for many years. She only designed two houses in her short life – the Balling House and Suk House in the Baba estate. She died at the age of 40 in Stockholm, where she lived with her husband, Czechoslovak ambassador Dr. Vladimír Kučera.
1922-1927
studied architecture with Professors Karel Štípl, Josef Mařatka and Pavel Janák at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague
1928-1937
independent architect and designer in Prague
1937
architect in Stockholm, where her husband Jaroslav Kučera worked as the ambassador
Significant Works
1928
restaurant terrace in Barrandov, Prague
1932
houses of Karel Balling and Antonia and Václav Suk, Baba, Prague-Dejvice
standard-type kitchen for Zenobie Vítězová, Přerov
several interior furnishings and designs for private clients
1933
participation in the “Apartment” exhibition of the Czechoslovak Werkbund (SČSD) in Prague
1934
house in Dobřichovice
Owner
Antonie and Václav Suk
Václav Suk, who also owned an Art Nouveau apartment building in Hradčany with his wife, fell victim to the communist persecution of the 1950s and died in prison shortly thereafter.
