Living Villa Society

Barbora Koritenská

Prachatice

The Kralova Villa is a functionalist villa in Prachatice, built just near the train station in the 1930s by the entrepreneur Johann Nepomuk Kral, based on the design of Austrian Fritz Reichl. The architect originally drew inspiration from the work of Adolf Loos. After 1945, its spaces were used by the local kindergarten, and in the 1970s, there were plans to demolish it, to make way for the construction of a road. The association Živá vila / Living Villa was founded in 2015 to prevent its demolition, and currently has ten members. Barbora Koritenská is one of the three founding members of Živá vila, which rented the villa between 2014–2016. They also organized a number of cultural and social activities, and they were gradually renovating the building. The association renewed the lease in August 2020, though pressure from the community makes the villa’s future uncertain. In the meantime, members have been active in organizing events in a public space in Prachatice.