Imre Makovecz

Imre Makovecz
Born(1935-11-20)November 20, 1935
DiedSeptember 27, 2011(2011-09-27) (aged 75)
NationalityHungarian
Alma materTechnical University of Budapest
OccupationArchitect
SpouseMarianne Szabó
Children3
Imre Makovecz (left) in 2011

Imre Makovecz (November 20, 1935 – September 27, 2011) was a Hungarian architect[1] active in Europe from the late 1950s onward.

Makovecz was born and died in Budapest. He attended the Technical University of Budapest. He was founder and "eternal and executive president" of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.[2] He was an award-winning architect, having won Ybl Prize,[3][circular reference] Kossuth Prize, Steindl Imre Prize and Prima Primissima Award among many others.

Makovecz was one of the most prominent proponents of organic architecture. As such, his buildings attempt to work with the natural surroundings rather than triumph over them. Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Steiner are both strong influences, as is traditional Hungarian art.[1]

His work began as a critique of communist ideology and the brutal uniformity of system building, but after the fall of the Communist regime in 1989, it became a comment on the nature of globalisation and corporate culture. In its attempts to refer to and build on Hungarian national archetypes, Makovecz was continuing the work and ideas of the architects of Hungarian Art Nouveau and National Romanticism. The first English language monograph on his work, Imre Makovecz: T.e Wings of the Soul, by Edwin Heathcote, was published in 1997. More recently, his work has been examined in the broader context of Hungarian culture to which also belongs organic cinema.[4]

Makovecz was a devout Roman Catholic.[5]

  1. ^ a b Heathcote2011-09-28T08:52:00, Edwin. "Imre Makovecz (1935 – 2011)". Building Design. Retrieved August 13, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "A Brief History of MMA | Magyar Művészeti Akadémia". www.mma.hu. Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  3. ^ hu:Kategória:Ybl Miklós-díjasok
  4. ^ Thorsten Botz-Bornstein Organic Cinema: Film, Architecture, and the Work of Béla Tarr. New York: Berghahn, 2017,
  5. ^ Glancey, Jonathan (September 29, 2011). "Imre Makovecz obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved June 12, 2014. Deeply religious and a lifelong Catholic, Makovecz believed in angels.