About the site
This residence for Dr. Kuno Kothny, head physician of the Teutonic Order Hospital, was designed by Karl Gottwald as a reconstruction of an earlier building with an extensive garden. In 1932, the original structure, which had stood on Hradecká Street since the first half of the 19th century, was still owned by Mathilde Kienelová.
Gottwald’s design transformed the property into a two-storey suburban villa. Its relatively austere street façade, facing the busy Hradecká Street, is enlivened only by horizontal strip windows on the upper floor and a decoratively treated main entrance. The entrance lintel is adorned with a relief by Adolf Köhrer, depicting putti in a medical scene with the earlier appearance of the Teutonic Order Hospital in the background. The doorway opens onto a corner veranda, which faces north and is framed by a two-bay arcade. A large three-bay dormer projects from the nearly flat roof. On the south side of the villa, oriented towards the west, terraces extend from both the ground and upper floors, connected by a straight concrete stairway that leads down to the garden. The interior is arranged on a three-tract plan with a central corridor, from which a double-flight staircase leads directly from the main entrance. The Kothny residence is an example of a building influenced by Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), yet incorporating numerous traditionalist elements. For many years it housed a kindergarten; today it accommodates several social service institutions.
RR
