Napraforgó street 13. (original number 15.)

Architect: György Masirevich jnr.

Budapest, 1905 – Los Angeles 1989

He studied at the Budapest Technical University. In 1927 he organized the exhibition of the architect students, which was the first occasion when modern plans (of Farkas Molnár and György Rácz) were exhibited among the walls of the university. As a punishment, he was expelled from the university, therefore he could only graduate in 1929. During his student years he was the general secretary of the National Association of Hungarian University and College Students (MEFHOSZ), and due to this position he could realize his first plan in the year of his graduation: the student resort of MEFHOSZ at Szántód, an absolutely modern, flat-roof building with ribbon windows. Between 1929-1931 he worked at the engineering department of the Council of Public Works. In 1929 he participated at the Frankfurt congress of the International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM) where he was appointed the second delegate of the Hungarian group. In the next year he was the delegate of the Council of Public Works at the CIAM congress in Brussels. Until 1931 he was the enthusiastic devotee of „new building”: he wrote articles on the social tasks of architecture, hygiene, rational building technology, principles of up-to-date city planning. Together with Peter Kaffka he was the first architect to raise the idea to build a small flat experimental housing estate in Budapest. However, he could not tolerate the dogmatic ideas and extreme radicalism of the Hungarian group, and – after his opposition was rejected – he resigned from his delegate role and left the group in 1932.
Until 1935 he worked as an adviser for building companies, then opened his own office. In 1936 his plan prepared together with István Janáky received the first prize at the contest for planning the Palatinus open-air bath. From the middle of the 30s he designed romantic buildings beside his modern houses, moreover, he built some neoclassic and neo-baroque villas, as well. He built several large apartment houses, and made the plans for the OTI polyclinic in Visegrádi street. He was also interested in city planning: he took part in the tender for planning of the environment of Rudas bath and Tabán, he made several plans for the re-building of the Pest side of the Danube. In 1937 he prepared a vision of Budapest with the extension of Andrássy street, the re-building of Erzsébet square and a new hotel chain of highrises along the Danube.
In 1948 he emigrated. First he worked in the Basel office of Alajos Ribáry, then beside Pierre Vago in Paris. From 1949 he lived in the US: first he taught and worked as an employee, then in 1952 he opened his own office.

Source of the photos: Tér és Forma 1931/10, 305-326, Vékás András, Megyeri Gábor
Source of the ground-plans: Tér és Forma 1931/10, 305-326

Bauhaus100 molino

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