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The Architect. Mies van der Rohe is certainly one of the greatest 20th century architects and is arguably the most influential (he is certainly the most stylish). Here a few points of interest about him.

1. He was the last director of the legendary Bauhaus firm

2. He dressed exclusively in fine dark suits and smoked expensive, handrolled Montecristo cigars

3. He received his first commision when he was 20 to build the house of a philosopher

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Mies van der Rohe's Villa Tugendhat – a revolutionary exercise in light and space – is now restored to its 1930s glory, writes Rowan Moore

Some things I learned from this article.

1. The Tugendhat house cost 5 million crowns at a time when a luxury villa of similar respectability could be built for 320,000

2. Simon Mawer wrote a lightly-fictionalized acount of the history of the house titled The Glass House which was shortlisted for a Booker Prize

3. The building faced much criticsm when construction was finished. 'Can The Villa Tugendhat Be Lived In?' was the title of article published in a German architecture magazine a year after completon.

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This well shot short features an amazing view of the Villas garden and the town of Brno. The video also helps give a sense of the wide, flowing dynamics of the house.

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This book was a useful resource in acquiring information about the Tugendhat Villa. An interesting fact I found in the books second chapter ‘THE HOUSES SUBSEQUENT FATE’ is that the makassar ebony veneer was taken from the living room during world war 2 to a gestapo headquarters’ conference room.

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The land for the Villa Tugendhat was a wedding gift to the newlyweds and is located on a slope in suburban Brno. The large plot includes a garden and a beautiful view of Brno

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The main living area is enclosed by stunning half-cylinder of Makassar ebony taken from the island of Celebes. Also Pictured is the Onyx wall and a statue of a female torso by Wilhelm Lehmbruck.

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The Tugendhat Villa is famous for its use of fine and exotic materials. The walls, doors, and halls that were built in features veneered palisander from South Asia. Perhaps most famously, enclosing the living room is the gorgeous onyx wall originating from the Atlas Mountains in former French Morocco. Also pictured is the brass-cladded steel columns and cement used for the foundation of the house

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“I truly longed for a modern spacious house with clear and simple shapes. My husband was horrified by the idea of having rooms full of objects and cloths as he had known from childhood." - Grete Tugendhat.

The emphasis is on open and simple spaces as is obvious in these floor plans (Above, ground. Below, 1st Floor)

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The Villa was commisioned by Frita and Greta Low-Beer Tugendhat, two Jewish-Germans whose wealthy industrial familes had lived in Brno for nearly 300 years, to raise their three kids Hana, Herbert, and Ernst (who would grow up to be a famous philospher). The Low-Beers owned a series of cement, sugar and textile factories while the Tugendhats co-owned two wool factories in Brno. Unfortunately the Tugendhats  were only able to spend eight years there before the beginnings of World War II forced them to leave to Switzerland in 1938 and and Venezuala in 1941.

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Built from 1928-1930 for wealthy Jewish newlyweds Grete and Fritz Tugendhat, the Villa Tugendhat is a free-standing three story Villa designed by Mies Van Der Rohe that revolutionized architecture with it's use of new building materials and minimalist form-after-function design.