2000 Reports

Garden Cities and Company Towns: Tomaš Bat'a and the Formation of Zlín, Czechoslovakia

Elman, Kimberly

This quotation, taken from the introduction of a estate outside of Prague, presents a compelling framework for any study of modem Czechoslovakian architecture between the world wars. After the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, out of lands that were formerly part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the new country was faced with the challenge of shaping for itself a distinct national identity. As the home of more than 60 percent of the factories and mines of the former Habsburg Empire,1 it was one of the most industrialized countries in post-World War I Europe. This strength became a rallying point for the country and a symbolic representation of the new nation, particularly in art and architecture where the machine aesthetic of the “International Style” was the preferred vocabulary of the generation.