Ödön Lechner

I just did a report on Ödön Lechner, so I will share with you here the pictures and a bit about the man. Ödön Lechner was the premier Hungarian architect. He designed many buidlings around Hungary, and many in Budapest. He was the driving force behind the foundation of an actual Hungarian style of architecture, rather than simply borrowing styles from elsewhere in Europe. These three buildings were built around the turn of the century. They all use Zsolnay tiling. Zsolnay was the best porcelain manufacturer in the world, and they made roof tiles which can be seen on many of the buildings in Budapest (Matthias Church, Parliament, etc.) and which contributed much to the Hungarian architectural aesthetic. I went to the Zsolnay museum last weekend down in Pecs.

This is the Museum of Applied Arts, his best work in my opinion.


The inside foyer. The picture isn't a good one because that man you see there yelled at me to not take a picture, while I was taking this picture. But you can see the curviness. He liked curves.


Again, the inside foyer. Notice the many arches, and the arches within the arches.


This is the Geological Museum.


And this is the National Savings Bank. The American Embassy shares a block with this building, so it is a very well protected block.



Anyway, now you have an idea of Hungarian architecture. Another fun thing about him is that Ödön is the Hungarian version of Eugene, so he always makes me think of Grandpa.