Behind the Glass: The Villa Tugendhat and Its Family by Michael Lambek (review)

Michael Lambek's 'Behind the Glass: The Villa Tugendhat and Its Family' offers a profound meditation on family, memory, and historical legacy through the lens of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tugendhat Villa in Brno. Unlike conventional accounts that focus solely on the villa's architectural or historical significance, Lambek foregrounds the lives, struggles, and relationships of the Tugendhat family, weaving together memoir, ethnography, and social history to explore themes of identity, kinship, and generational reproduction. The study adopts a multifaceted approach, blending personal narratives with official records, photographs, and philosophical reflections, providing a nuanced perspective on how families navigate legal, financial, and cultural shifts across generations. Lambek's work also critically examines his own relationship to the family's intellectual legacy, challenging idealizations and offering a complex, respectful portrayal of their experiences.

(Ed.). (2024). Behind the Glass: The Villa Tugendhat and Its Family by Michael Lambek (review). AJS Review: The Journal of the Association for Jewish Studies, 48(1), 233–235. https://doi.org/10.1353/ajs.2024.a926078