Modernist Cottages Exhibition at Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague

The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague presents 'The Modern Cottage: An Architectural Phenomenon', an exhibition curated by Adam Štěch and Jan Bureš that explores modernist cottages and weekend houses as overlooked bastions of 20th-century design. The show documents a radical chapter in architectural history, highlighting how seasonal retreats emerged during the interwar years as workers gained leisure time and built holiday homes on the edges of towns. Štěch and Bureš avoid framing the cottage as a peculiarly Czech phenomenon, instead examining wide-ranging designs from Alpine cottages to Scandinavian dwellings and beach houses in the south of France. The exhibition features Štěch's own photographs, archival publications, period images, architectural plans, original furniture, and remains of a cottage by artist Zdeněk Pešánek. Exhibition design by Matěj Činčera and Jan Kloss is inspired by a rural landscape. The show argues that the weekend house was where blueprints of modern life were drawn.