Ákos Moravánszky

Ákos Moravánszky (born 26. November 1950 in Székesfehérvár, Hungary), is a Swiss-Hungarian architect, theorist, historian and Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Architectural Theory at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.[3] Moravánszky is regarded as one of the world's leading architecture historians of Central European architecture.[4]

Ákos Moravánszky
Born(1950-11-26)26 November 1950
Székesfehérvár, Hungary
NationalityHungary, Switzerland
OccupationArchitecture Historian and Theorist
Awards
  • 1989 Award of the Hungarian Department for Education for a publication of high scholarly standard
  • 2013 Honorary Membership of the Széchenyi Academy of the Arts, Hungarian Academy of Sciences.[1]
  • 2017 Honorary Doctor (Dr. h.c.) of the Technical University Budapest[2]
  • 2018 Pro Hungarian Architecture medal of the Association of Hungarian Architects[2]
Academic background
Alma materBudapest University of Technology
Academic work
Institutions

Biography

Moravánszky studied architecture at the Budapest University of Technology where he received his diploma in 1974. Subsequently, he worked in Budapest at KÖZTI,[5] an architectural design office specialized for public buildings.[6] In 1977, he started his doctoral studies at the Technical University of Vienna as a Herder-Fellow, receiving his degree in 1980. In 1983 he was appointed Editor-in-Chief of the architectural journal of the Association of Hungarian Architects, Magyar Épitőművészet.[7] He was invited as an Alexander-von-Humboldt Research Fellow to the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte (Central Research Institute for Art History) in Munich (1986-1988). He worked as Research Associate at the Getty Center in Santa Monica, California (1989-1991) and as Visiting Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1991-1996). Between 1996 and 2016 he was in charge of the Chair of Architectural Theory at the Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture at the ETH Zurich. He was Visiting Professor at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest in 2003/04 and at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona in 2017/18.[3]

Writings on architecture

Moravánszky is especially well known for his writing on twentieth-century architecture in Central Europe, and for his role in the development of a theory of materiality in architecture. His books include Competing Visions: Aesthetic Invention and Social Imagination in Central European Architecture, 1867-1918 (1998) which was the first systematic work focusing on the development of architectural modernism in the countries of the Habsburg Empire and its successor states.[8] “Ákos Moravánszky’s Competing Visions: Aesthetic Invention and Social Imagination in Central European Architecture 1867-1918 turned modernism into a simple architectural alternative among others” – wrote French architectural historian Carmen Popescu.[9]

Results of this research were published earlier in his books Die Architektur der Donaumonarchie (1988) and Die Erneuerung der Baukunst: Wege zur Moderne in Mitteleuropa (1988). William M. Johnston, the outstanding American historian focusing on European cultural history emphasized in his book Zur Kulturgeschichte Õsterreichs und Ungarns 1890-1938 (2015) Moravánszky’s pioneering achievement and his “virtuosity in weaving together architectural and intellectual history”.[10] An important aspect of Moravánszky’s work was the ethnographic research of architects into the material culture of the village, and their interest for vernacular buildings. In August 1996, he organized an international conference at the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften in Vienna. The papers of the conference have been published in Moravánszky’s edited volume Das entfernte Dorf (2002).[11] The significance of this achievement has been recognized by scholars working later on issues of regionalism and vernacular architecture.[12] The research that started with his doctoral thesis and early writings on the architecture in the Habsburg monarchy, and concluded with the series of conferences East West Central on architecture and urbanism in post-war Europe, held at the ETH Zurich, with particular emphasis on the former “Eastern Bloc” countries.[13] The results of the conferences have been published in three volumes.[14] Reviewers praised the results as the “Re-unification of Europe in architectural history” (András Ferkai in Ars Hungarica[15]) and as “one of the most interesting works dealing with the period” (Michal Janák in docomomo)[16]

The question of materiality was discussed in seminars held at the doctoral school of the Institut gta / ETH Zurich, the Architectural Association in London, the Moholy-Nagy University of Art in Budapest, and at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona. He summed up his stance towards materiality as in his book Metamorphism: Material Change in Architecture (2018) as follows: "The interpretation of material outlined in this introduction progresses from constructional principles via cultural meaning to sensory experience. Accordingly, the technical literature is progressively complemented by texts which use the power of material as an argument for a post-human materialism and as a tool for the ecologization of culture. This book is neither a construction handbook nor a work of architectural history, neither a treatise on the iconology of materials nor a plea for a new materialism. By focusing our attention on ideas that have arisen in close connection with the practice of design it seeks to significantly advance the discourse about material. The examination of Semper’s theory and the presentation of theoretical discussions about materiality cannot be separated from the investigation of architectural examples. The identification and recognition of materiality can counter the dematerialization which globalization is leaving in its wake."[17] In 2015 a collection of Moravánszky's writings over a period of over 20 years was collated and published by the gta Verlag under the title Lehrgerüste.[18]

Notable publications
  • Antoni Gaudí;[19] Polish ed.: Antoni Gaudí[20] German ed.: Antoni Gaudí[21]
  • Die Architektur der Donaumonarchie 1867 bis 1918,[22] Hungarian ed.: Építészet az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchiában[23]
  • Die Erneuerung der Baukunst. Wege zur Moderne in Mitteleuropa[24]
  • Competing Visions. Aesthetic Invention and Social Imagination in Central European Architecture, 1867–1918;[25] Hungarian ed.: Versengő látomások. Esztétikai újítás és társadalmi program az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia építészetében, 1867–1918[26]
  • Räumlinge. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes;[27] English ed.: Spacepieces. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes;[28] Italian ed.: Corpi cavi. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes[29]
  • Lehrgerüste. Theorie und Stofflichkeit der Architektur, Zurich: gta Verlag, 2015.[18]
  • Metamorphism. Material Change in Architecture.[17] German ed.: Stoffwechsel. Materialverwandlung in der Architektur.[30]
  • Post Otto Wagner. Von der Postsparkasse zur Postmoderne. From the Postal Savings Bank to Post-Modernism.[31]

References
  1. "Közgyűlés a Széchenyi Akadémián". Élet és Irodalom (in Hungarian). Élet és Irodalom. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  2. "Pro Hungarian Architecture Medal: Ákos Moravánszky". meonline. Association of Hungarian Architects. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  3. "Ákos Moravánszky Adjunct professor emeritus Curriculum Vitae". ETH Zurich Department of Architecture Institute gta. ETH Zurich. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  4. Žunić, Alen. "Travels in Theory". Oris. Oris. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  5. Ferkai, Andras (2015). KÖZTI 66. Egy tervezőiroda története. (KÖZTI 66 - The History of a Design Studio) (in Hungarian). Budapest: Vince.
  6. "Ákos Moravánszky". Oral History Archiv (in German). ETH Zürich. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  7. "Magyar Építőművészet". Association of Hungarian Architects.
  8. "Albert on Moravanszky, 'Competing Visions: Aesthetic Invention and Social Imagination in Central European Architecture, 1867-1918'". H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. Michigan State University Department of History. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  9. Popescu, Carmen (2014). "At the periphery of architectural history – looking at Eastern Europe". Artl@s Bulletin. 3 (1): 11. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  10. Johnston, William M. (2015). Zur Kulturgeschichte Österreichs und Ungarns 1890-1938: Auf der Suche nach verborgenen Gemeinsamkeiten. Böhlau Verlag Wien. p. 30. ISBN 9783205795414. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  11. Moravánszky, Ákos (2002). Das entfernte Dorf: moderne Kunst und ethnischer Artefakt. Böhlau. ISBN 9783205992455. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  12. Oberdiek, Ulrich. "Das entfernte Dorf. Moderne Kunst und ethnischer Artefakt". German Anthropology Online. University of Heidelberg. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  13. "Research Project East West Central. Re-building Europe". Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture gta. ETH Zurich. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  14. "East West Central Re-building Europe, 1950-1990". degruyter. Walter de Gruyter GmbH. January 2012. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  15. Ferkai, Andras (2018). "A hatvanas évek ismeretlen építészete" (PDF). Arshungarica. 2 (44): 117. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  16. Michal, Janak (2018). "Book Reviews" (PDF). Docomomo. 2 (59): 90–92. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  17. Moravánszky, Ákos (2018). Metamorphism. Material Change in Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2018. ISBN 978-3-0356-0806-9. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  18. Moravánszky, Ákos (2015). Lehrgerüste. Theorie und Stofflichkeit der Architektur (in German). gta Verlag. ISBN 978-3-85676-340-4. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  19. Moravánszky, Ákos (1985). Antoni Gaudí (in Hungarian). Budapest, Akademiai Kiado.
  20. Moravánszky, Ákos (1983). Antoni Gaudi (in Polish). Arkady. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  21. Moravánszky, Ákos (1985). Antoni Gaudí (in German). Berlin Henschelverlag Kunst und Gesellschaft. ISBN 978-9630536677.
  22. Moravánszky, Ákos (1988). Die Architektur der Donaumonarchie 1867 bis 1918 (in German). Ernst, Wilhelm & Sohn. ISBN 978-3433020371.
  23. Moravánszky, Ákos (1988). Építészet az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchiában (in Hungarian). Corvnia. ISBN 978-9631320961.
  24. Moravánszky, Ákos (1988). Moravanszky Akos Die Erneuerung der Baukunst. Wege zur Moderne in Mitteleuropa 1900-1940 (in German). Residenz. ISBN 9783701705559. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  25. Moravánszky, Ákos (1998). Competing visions : aesthetic invention and social imagination in Central European architecture, 1867-1918. The MIT Press. ISBN 978-0-262-13334-0. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  26. Moravánszky, Ákos (1998). Versengõ látomások Esztétikai újítás és társadalmi program az Osztrák-Magyar Monarchia építészetében 1867-1918 (in Hungarian). Vince Kiadó. ISBN 9639192104. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  27. Moravánszky, Ákos (1999). Räumlinge. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes (in German). Quart Verlag. ISBN 978-3-907631-00-3. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  28. Moravánszky, Ákos (2000). Spacepieces. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes. Quart Verlag. ISBN 978-3-907631-02-7. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  29. Moravánszky, Ákos (2000). Corpi cavi. Valentin Bearth & Andrea Deplazes (in Italian). Quart Verlag. ISBN 978-3-907631-03-4. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  30. Moravánszky, Ákos (2018). Stoffwechsel: Materialverwandlung in der Architektur (in German). BIRKHÄUSER. ISBN 978-3-0356-0819-9. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  31. Moravánszky, Ákos; Hackenschmidt, Sebastian; Meder, Iris (2018). Post Otto Wagner (in German). BIRKHÄUSER. ISBN 978-3-0356-1685-9. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
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