July 15–September 16, 2022
The popular “Architectur im Ringturm” series of the Wiener Städtische Versicherungsverein pays tribute to István Medgyaszay from the Otto Wagner Master Class in its most recent display.
István Medgyaszay, a Budapest-born architect, completed his studies under Otto Wagner at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1903 and was born in 1877. He continued his education in Budapest and pursued internships in Berlin and Paris before traveling to Székely Land in Transylvania to study Hungarian folk art. His formal language was built on the revelations he had there.
He emphasized the significance of integrating structure and decoration in his writings, and his architectural designs are characterized by regionally specific wood constructions. His guiding idea for using reinforced concrete—that the forces at work in the building should be mirrored in the architecture—is highlighted by the theaters he created in Veszprém and Sopron.
Buildings in Lviv, Chernivtsi, Vienna, Budapest, as well as many more towns and cities that were then still a part of Hungary, display his intriguing and distinctive architectural language. He is revered as the founder of Hungarian Modernism along with dön Lechner.
Curator: Adolph Stiller
Academic consultants:Zoltán Fehérváry, András Hadik, Emese Kún, Ferenc Potzner (exhibition staged in collaboration with the Budapest City Archives)
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am–6pm, free admission (closed on public holidays)
Ringturm Exhibition Centre
Schottenring 30
1010 Vienna
Austria