the Zaorálek House, original state (south façade facing the street)
This third design of the medium-sized house in Baba, a villa for a section head at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Hugo Zaorálek, marked the peak of Ladislav Žák’s efforts to design a prototype of a house as an independent living unit of a collective house. The concept also included an area to provide care for the body and soul – the upstairs bathroom was fitted with gym equipment and directly connected to the sundeck. The direct connection of the large ground-floor living room with the garden was a very functionalist and unusual element, even compared to the other Baba houses.
Dr. Hugo Zaorálek
Dr. Zaorálek’s family emigrated to Munich after the Soviet army entered the country in 1968. The villa then found a new owner, the erstwhile Deputy Prime Minister Bohumil Šimon. He interfered greatly with the construction of the house; for example, he bricked up all of the terraces, thus devaluing the exceptional villa.
west façade with terrace
living room interior
south façade (detail of the terrace and garden entrance)
north façade of the house
interior built-in cabinets
view from the terrace of the Letošník House
Ladislav Žák
title page of the construction permit
original documentation and plans from the exhibition catalogue
