Arnošt Wiesner

Arnošt Wiesner, also known as Ernst Wiesner (January 21 1890 in Malacky - July 15 1971 in Liverpool) was a modernist architect.

During 1908 to 1913 Wiesner studied at the Technical College and the Academy of Arts (taught by B. Ohmann) in Wien. After the World War I he worked as an independent architect in the city of Brno, until 1939. Wiesner was a very active architect in the city between the World Wars. His work was greatly influenced by Adolf Loos and his pure constructions with their classicized balance and monumentality are amongst the best works to be constructed in Brno at that time.

Afterwards Wiesner emigrated to Great Britain where he joins the foreign anti-fascist resistance. After World War II he stayed in England. During 1948-50 he acted as a lecturer in the School of Architecture at the University of Oxford and during 1950-60 at the University of Liverpool. In 1969 he was nominated to the rank of honorary doctor by the University of Jan Evangelista Purkyně (now Masaryk University) in Brno.

Architectural works in Brno

* Gutmannův dům (Gutmann's house) 1919-22
* Moravská zemská životní pojišťovna (Moravian Municipal Life Insurance Company) 1920-1923
* Česká banka Union later Čs. rozhlas (Czech Union Bank later Czechoslovakian Broadcast) 1923-26
* Krematorium (Crematorium) 1926-29
* Palác Morava ("Palace Moravia") 1927-29. Completely finished in 1936
* Rodinný dvojdům (Double-family house) 1928
* Moravská banka (Moravian bank) 1929-30, co-author Bohuslav Fuchs
* Činžovní dům Freundschaft (The Freundschaft tenement house) 1930-31
* Various family houses, industrial and manufacturing buildings around the City of Brno