Augustin Čipera’s villa
1932–1933 / 1940

The history of the Functionalist villa of Augustin Čipera, which these days gives rather the impression of being a new building in the environment of the refined garden district, dates back to the early 1930s. Its realisation, based on the project signed by the builder Karel Mastný, took place in the customary approximately one-year period from August 1932 to September 1933. The client was a council member of the Pilsen Municipal Waterworks, Augustin Čipera, who moved into Čermákova Street from a historicist double-villa on V Bezovce Street.

The house entrance is emphasised by a semi-circular landing, accessible by a direct staircase and covered with a simple but elegant reinforced concrete slab of flat canopy supported by three subtle pillars. The awning mimics the shape of the landing and thus creates the illusion of a protective umbrella at the entrance. The ground floor served a social function – the central space was the staircase hall, followed by the living room with the dining room oriented into the southern rounded corner towards the garden. The dining room was connected with the adjacent kitchen by a serving window. The living room was adjoined by a smaller porch, accessible via an external staircase. The basement with a laundry room, boiler room and caretaker’s room was accessible by a staircase from the hall. A similar staircase, lit by a high rectangular window from the street led from the main hall to the private part of the house upstairs. The bedroom was entered through a spacious dressing room, and was further connected to the bathroom and toilet. Both the dressing room and the bedroom had access to a large terrace, occupying approximately one-third of the floor.

The terrace disappeared under an extra floor with two rooms realised according to the project of Antonín Špalek in September 1940. The lower terrace was turned into another living room as well. These modifications were initiated by the new owner of the villa, Bohdan Pantoflíček, also known as the builder of the Functionalist apartment house with shops at no. 4 Sady Pětatřicátníků (C1–324).

Although the aforementioned changes were conducted with a certain respect for the architecture of the building, its original mass solution disappeared. Other changes took place in the house in 1965, including a built-in garage in the basement. The construction of the house was concluded by a receding extension of the second floor, on the basis of a project by Václav Mastný.

LR 

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