It is said about him, that he is "the best sculptor among architects and the best architect among sculptors". And the Czech architect Eva Jiřičná said: "he created the miracle of modern architecture" (stvořil zázrak moderní architektury).
After brief studies in Uherské Hradiště, he attended the School of Applied Arts in Prague from 1910. There he was particularly influenced by Jože Plečnik, under whom he studied architecture during World War I. For the requirements in Zlín at the Baťa company, he continued to study with Jan Kotěra from 1919-23. From 1924-45 he became a permanent employee of Baťa and after Kotěra's death in 1923 he beacme the city planner for Zlín. In this position he was also responsible for establishing new Baťa production sites outside Czechoslovakia, such as e. g. Batanagar (India) ,Borovo (Croatia, formerly Yugoslavia) or Otmęt (Poland, formerly Germany).
After World War II, he lost his job at Baťa due to the onset of nationalisation. He moved to Brno with his wife. Already the death of his two children, but also the completely new general conditions probably worsened his state of health, so that he suffered a stroke in 1951.
He is buried in the forest cemetery (Lesní hřbitov) in Zlín, a cemetery he designed himself.
Sources
Buildings
Zlín, Czechia
Tomáš Baťa Memorial
Zlín, Czechia
Baťa Zlín