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Imre Makovecz

Imre Makovecz

Born November 20 1935, Budapest
Died September 27 2011

Imre Makovecz was born in Budapest in 1935 and studied architecture at the Technical University between 1954 and 1959. During his studies he came across Hungarian translations of texts by Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Steiner which were a crucial influence on his future work. In 1964 he made his first "initiation" trip to Western Europe where he encountered Steiner's legacy. His architecture and philosophy were increasingly and intensely reflected in Makovecz's contemplations and architectural work. Makovecz formulated his personal theory of organic architecture and he found a synonym in Hungarian in the adjective "live". It was based on a close relationship between man and nature and on his spiritual overlaps which were to be incorporated into architecture, among other areas. Makovecz found the roots of such architecture in both mythological and Christian traditions, and mirroring the Steinerian concepts of Eurythmy and symmetry, he sought inspiration in folk art. The final expression of his buildings was defined by the use of natural materials and specific transformations of traditional architectonic morphology. The architect gradually completely dissociated himself from the legacy of modern architecture. This put him in the role of a post-modern architect, however, very distant from the idea usually assigned to it by West European and American theories of architecture.


architecture, design

1960

The beginnings. Architect outlining his o
After graduating, Imre Makovecz acquired a job in the Budapest Institute for Urban Development, and from 1962 he worked in the Planning, Implementation and Operation Institute of the Central Council of Cooperatives (SZVÖVOSZ). At that time he designed restaurants and shopping centres. In rural areas he first experimented with the concept of symmetrically formed buildings, strongly inspired by Steiner's second Goetheaneum in Dornach (1925). An example from 1964 is the Berhida restaurant project, an expressively formed concrete envelope of symmetrically modeled interiors. In all of his following designs the architect thawed right angles

1968

Was member of Pécsi Műhely

1970

From concrete to wood. Makovecz as the father of Hungarian organic school
In the 1970's Makovecz premeditated his own concept of live architecture and sought its possibilities. His shopping centres in Sárospatak (1969-1972) and Györ (1969-1971) still reflected the concept of modernist brutalism in the fullness of the concrete envelope. However, the architect abandoned concrete structures and concentrated on the study of traditional folk architecture and art. He recorded it in his Diaries

1980

Critic of situation in society. Discovered in Europe.
In 1981 the Finnish Museum of Architecture in Helsinki first introduced a group of Hungarian architects of organic bearing and subsequently organised an independent exhibition for Imre Makovecz. Jonathan Glancey mentioned his work in Architectural Review magazine in the same year. It was followed by a series of exhibitions in Stockholm, Graz, Rotterdam, New York and Prague. Makovecz's name became well-known among architecture critics and he became the most talked about artist of his kind from Central and Eastern Europe. He did not hesitate to openly criticise the situation in Hungarian architecture which was degraded to unimaginative, automated building production. "We live in a time of myth of materialistic individualism, whose only driving power is lack. Lack of flats, shops, créches, lack of real personalities, lack of real and freely excercised collectivism", he wrote in 1989. He broke the rigid building practices constrained by the bureaucracy of central planning, with his own interventions in local communities and by the act of building itself. He opened his own studio in 1983 thanks to the political thawing of the 1980's. From 1984, the studio was called Makona. It was a place for the free association of architects sharing common space and infrastructure. He substantially extended the spectrum of his architectonic tasks - municipal and cultural houses (Zalaszentlásló, Bak), schools, gyms, shops, family houses, more complex solutions for urban centres (Bak, Kakasd) and large ecclesiastical projects. "Building is an embodiment of a social myth", he explained, his approach visibly evident in newly built churches in Siofók (1986-1993) and Paks (1987-1990), and in the forest education centre in Visegrád (1984-1988). He continued to specify the position of architecture as art.



1989

Czech Appendix
A common history behind the Iron Curtain offered and still offers comparison between Czech and Hungarian architectural production of that time. After Makovecz's Prague exhibition (1989) there was a surge in interest in this newly energized stream. All the more so because for many it was a symbol of overcoming the bad habits of socialist building production and in a more general sense it was a symbol of the great social changes which were under way or were to come in the whole Eastern Bloc. In June 1989, a group of architects and art historians headed by Slovak architect and one of Makovecz's former co-workers Peter Pásztor (*1948), set out from Olomouc to Northern Hungary. Architect Tomáš Černoušek (1927-2001), whose work was probably most inspired by Makovecz's legacy, elaborated a detailed report on the trip. Art historian Pavel Zatloukal (*1948) summed up his strong impressions of the trip in a letter to architect Jiří Sirotek (1921-2005). In spite of the great excitement that initially welcomed Makovecz's work, the organic shaping did not find followers among Czech architects. Architekt Zdeněk Fránek (1961) from the younger generation was an exception. He embedded Hungarian stimuli in his early work (Moravian Cartographic Centre in Velké Opatovice, 1989-2005), however, his next steps lead him toward different organics. "Hungarian organics are different, more mythical and magical", art historian Jiří Ševčík (*1940) said in 1989. This supported Rostislav Švácha's (*1952) theory on traditional austerity in Czech architecture. No Czech Makovecz was born and the Hungarian one came to the Czech lands far too late, Ševčík laconically noted in his fitting tribute, an article in the Architektura ČSR / Architecture of Czechoslovak Republic magazine.

1990

And his late works – In his heyday
In 1991 he established a new university institution, the Hungarian Academy of Arts (Magyar Művészeti Akadémia), heading it from 1992 in the position of president. For Expo 1992 in Seville he designed the Hungarian pavilion and it distinctly broke the mould of the other national expositions. It was intended to embody Makovecz's belief in the resurrection of local cultural traditions. Therefore, architecture was to be narrative, symbolic and metaphorical. Its space and forms should "revitalise our memory" (Dezsö Ekler). The position of Hungarian organic architecture in the history of European architecture was also attested to in 1991 through the participation of their representatives at the architectural biennial in Venice, accompanied by a spectacular catalogue. In the following year Prince Charles personally asked Makovecz to participate in the repairs of Windsor Palace, which had been damaged by fire. Makovecz was in his heyday and he designed ten ecclessiastical buildings (Temesvár 1990, Czenger 1993, Százhalombatta 1995-1998), Stephaneum university centre in Piliscaba (1995-2001), where he again thematised Steiner's work, as well as his first Goetheaneum. He created distinctive designs for theatre buildings (Lendava, Slovenia, 1991) and the Budapest Opera House. The whole of Makovecz's architectural work was accompanied by masterful drawings, and at the turn of the millennium one such large set of drawings and collages of fantastic designs for temples and magical landscapes stood out in particular
Received award from Kossuth Prize


1993

Received award from University of Dundee


1996

Received award from Hungarian Heritage award

1999

Received award from Imre Steindl´s award

2001

Received award from Corvin Chain Award

2003

Received award from Prima Primissima award

2011

Received award from Saint Stephen's Award

Muzeum umění Olomouc 2011-2024