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Makovecz, Imre
(b Budapest, 20 Nov 1935). Hungarian architect. In 1959 he graduated from the Technical University of Building and Transport Engineering, Budapest, and then worked for the state architectural offices BUVÁTI (1959–62) and SZÖVTERV (1962–71), both in Budapest. His early works, such as the Csákányosi Tavern (1968), Tatabánya, reflect the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolf Steiner. After 1969, with others, he began studying human movement and its spatial contours, and he based his competition work ‘Minimal Space’ (1972; unexecuted) and the interior of the Funeral Hall (1974–7; with Gábor Mezei, b 1935), Farkasréti Cemetery, Budapest, on this research. While working in the state design architectural office VÁTI (1971–7) he designed the Cultural Centre (1974–7), Sárospatak, one of the most original post-war Hungarian buildings, whose U-shaped plan is inspired by the urban context. This partly two-storey, symmetrical building is dominated by the moulded, wave-shaped tiled roof. Above the main entrance the eye-shaped motifs of the balconies emphasize the centre of the façade. The roof interiors are wooden-beamed and supported by buttresses branching off columns, like branches of a tree. He was also concerned with Hungarian folk art and the legacy of Ödön Lechner and Károly Kós. The Leisure Centre (1977–9), Visegrád, is a simple, curved, wooden structure with a shingled roof and draws on his study of vernacular ornament. Rejecting the alienating and inhuman aspects of 20th-century architecture Makovecz created a unique, largely wood-based architecture derived from human and natural forms, even introducing branching tree trunks as supports for the structure of the Cultural Centre (1981), Zalaszentlászló, and Gubcsi Villa (1986), Budapest. He lectured at the Union of Hungarian Architects in Budapest (1971–3, 1982–4, 1986–8) and in 1984 he started an independent partnership, Makona, with Ágnes Kravár (b 1948) and Ervin Nagy (b 1950). Makoverz designed a number of village community centres, such churches as the Lutheran church (1986–90), Siófok and the Roman Catholic church (1988–90), Paks, and the Hungarian Pavilion (1990–92) for Expo’ 92, Seville.
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