Kós, Károly (1883 - 1977)

Architect, applied artist, writer and book artist Károly Kós was born in Temesvár, the son of a post office official, Károly Kosch. He matriculated in Engineering at the Budapest Technical University in 1902 but changed over to Architecture in 1904, in which he gained his degree in 1907. In 1905, he went on the first of the study trips that eventually took him through the whole of Transylvania. The architecture of Kalotaszeg (Ţara Călatei) was for him a special experience. In 1907 he wrote and illustrated the manuscript of a book, Erdélyország népének építése (Buildings of the People of Transylvania), describing buildings, interiors, furniture and even folk costume. He was the leading figure of the Fiatalok group, which aimed to create a modern national architecture that incorporated vernacular elements and drew on the theoretical work of John Ruskin and William Morris, working from international examples, chiefly Scottish and Finnish. Among his outstanding works are the Catholic Church of Zebegény (with Béla Jánszky, 1905–1909), his own house (“Varjúvár” in Sztána, now Stana, 1910), the Székely National Museum in Sepsiszentgyörgy (now Sfintu Gheorghe, 1911–1912), and the central square of the Wekerle Estate in Budapest (1912–1913). For Varjúvár and the Székely National Museum, he also designed the furniture and fittings. His best known buildings are the pavilions he designed in collaboration with Dezső Zrumeczky for the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden (1909–1912). His art is infused with the traditions and legends of the Hungarian people and history, and his furniture also features folk forms, structures and motifs, and scenes from folk tales. This remained his intellectual base throughout his career, and he remained loyal to these traditional sources until his death in Cluj (Cluj-Napoca) in 1977.