Salvation and renovation of an abandoned functionalistic villa in the outskirts of Prachatice
Živá vila is a civic association, established to salvage a functionalistic villa in the outskirts of Prachatice in South Bohemia. So-called Kralova vila (Kral’s villa) is a large and relatively well preserved functionalistic villa, finished in 1932, once owned by local railway entrepreneur Johann Nepomuk Kral. The villa was used by its original owners only until 1945 when J. N. Nepomuk’s family was forced to leave the country. After confiscation, it served as an office building and nursery school. However, in the 1970's urban plans, it was marked for demolition to make way to town road bypass. In the meantime, Prachatice has overgrown its former boundaries, making the bypass’ original path obsolete. Nevertheless, the villa was still in the reserved zone with no one taking care of it. In 2015, a civic association called Živá vila (Living villa) was formed with the vision to salvage the building, renovate it and get it stricken from the demolition zone in the updated urban development plans. In 2015-2016, the villa was partly renovated and conserved by the association but in 2017, the municipality refused to prolong the rental contract, letting the villa once again exposed to weather and vandalism. Public pressure resulted in the villa being rented again to the association in 2020. Since then, it serves as a cultural and community centre for local citizens. A large variety of events is organized, ranging from neighbourhood re-use gatherings, art expositions to music performance
Resources needed
The resources are purely voluntary or patron-based. Volunteers from the local community dedicate their free time to the renovation, while local companies contribute with in-kind supplies or services. Costs of planned renovation reach 1 300 000 €.
Evidence of success
The public pressure that allowed to get the villa rented back in 2020 was a huge success of public pressure regarding people's living space. Also, high attendance to events shows increasing interest in local community events, especially when the initiative is linked to a beneficial purpose.
Difficulties encountered
Main challenges:
- fundraising
- official status of the building and its change
- political support
Potential for learning or transfer
The potential for learning of this practice is the message it gives – the local community shouldn't give up when their surroundings fall into disrepair and, despite obstacles, can create pressure to make things change, investing their time, determination and endless enthusiasm
Tags: Cultural heritage, Management
