Tomas Bata Memorial () is functionalist building in ZlÃÂn, Czech Republic built in 1933. The Memorial was designed by the Czech architect Frantià ¡ek Lydie Gahura.
Tomas Bata Memorial is the most impressive architectural work of Frantià ¡ek Lydie Gahura, it is a modern paraphrase of the constructions of high gothic style period: the supporting system and colourful stained glass and the reinforced concrete skeleton and glass. The building process started in 1932 and the monument was open with ceremony on the day of the first anniversary of TomÃ¡à ¡ Baà ¥a death that is on 12 July 1933. Based on the proposals by Frantià ¡ek Lydie Gahura the monument was meant to be an entrance gate to a complex of four buildings of the learning institute. Between 1936 and 1939 only the Learning Institute I and II were built. In 1954 the monument was rebuilt (academic architect J. Staà ¡a) and turned into the House of Arts. Later to be used as an art gallery and philharmonic orchestra in ZlÃÂn. But, after 1989, ZlÃÂn gradually cast off the inheritance of Communism. The philharmonic and the art gallery were moved to better-suited spaces, and the building on the slope of âÂÂGahura Avenueâ began waiting for its new use. Following a society-wide discussion inspired by an idea from the British theorist Kenneth Frampton, an architecture teacher at Columbia University in New York, the decision was made. The building underwent a two-year renovation led by the architect Petr Và ¡eteÃÂka and was reintroduced to the public in 2018 in its authentic appearance from the 1930s under the name âÂÂThe TomÃ¡à ¡ Baà ¥a MemorialâÂÂ. Since 2019, this space has been accessible all year round in the form of guided tours.
Tomas Bata Memorial is the most valuable monument of the ZlÃÂn functionalism. The idea for the monument is simple - an empty prism placed on a visible spot above the town on the central axis of the ascending park space, made up of several modules of the ZlÃÂn 6.15 x 6.15 m frame and clad only with cathedral glass. Inside is Junkers F 13 aircraft in which TomÃ¡à ¡ Baà ¥a died in 1932. Gahura reduced the monument to three basic materials of ZlÃÂn architecture â concrete, steel and glass. Building's composition express the unique attributes of TomÃ¡à ¡ Baà ¥a: generosity, clarity, aspiration, optimism, simplicity and honesty.