Photos

The photograph shows the typical architecture of Zlín. These brick houses were built in the 1920s and 30s by Tomáš Baťa for people working in his shoe factory. They have all the same or very similar design and form several quarters of the City (this photo is from Letná, among the other quarters are Podvesná, Zálešná or Lesní čtvrť). The interesting thing is that Baťa, in order to protect this unique urban architecture, forbade their inhabitants (who usually came from the country) to build any shads or extensions and keep any domestic animals in their gardens. This rule was abandoned during the Communist era and the result is that the quarters are today a strange tangle of old brick houses and numerous shads of various shapes and materials. One of these houses (in the street Nad Ovčírnou) is changed to a museum showing the living of working people between the wars.