Viktor Kovačić (1874–1924) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and is often called "the father of modern Croatian architecture".

Life

He was born in 1874 in Ločendol near Rogaška Slatina, present-day

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

.The Zagreb City Museum, Donation to the City of Zagreb: The Collection and Flat of the Architect Viktor Kovačić
/ref> After graduating from the Crafts School in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

in 1891, at the age of seventeen, he came to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

where he was a trainee in local construction firms. He studied architecture the

Akademie der bildenden Künste The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and opened a studio in Zagreb in 1899. He was co-founder of the Club of Croatian Architects in 1906. He worked at the Engineering College (Technical High School) in Zagreb from 1920, attaining a professorship in 1922. Viktor Kovačić died in Zagreb on October 21, 1924.

Work

The modern Croatian architecture appeared with Viktor Kovačić who was the first to speak against

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

and represented the idea that architecture must be individual and modern, but also practical and comfortable. From the thirties the works of “Zagreb school of Architecture" can stand alongside the best world architecture. They are especially interesting because of merging of two opposite directions in architecture of those days – functionalist and organic. His projects are marked with subtle purity of reduced elements of

, like in monumental Stock Exchange Palace (, today the Croatian National Bank headquarters) in

, 1924. His most important works in Zagreb are: the Church of St Blaise (1910-1913); the Stock Exchange Building (1923 - 1927); the Villa Frangeš (1910 - 1911); the Frank House (1913 - 1914); the redevelopment of Jesuit Square (with Hugo Ehrlich); the Villa Frölich (1919 - 1920); and the ''Slaveks Palace'' (1920).

Slaveks Palace

Slaveks Palace is a residential house built in 1920 in

by Kovačić. House is located on Svačićev trg 13,

. The house is registered as protected cultural asset by Republic of Croatia Ministry of Culture and media.

Awards

In 1925, a year after his death, he was posthumously awarded a Grand Prix in Arts and Crafts on the ''

Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts () was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, France, from April 29 (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to November 8, 1925 (O ...

'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Legacy

After the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the Life Achievement Award for architects in Croatia was named "Viktor Kovačić". Kovačić's atelier in 21 Masaryk Street is exhibited to the public under the auspice of

Zagreb City Museum Zagreb City Museum or Museum of the City of Zagreb () located in 20 Opatička Street, was established in 1907 by the Association of the Brethren of the Croatian Dragon (). It is located in a restored monumental complex (12th-century Popov toran ...

. As of 2021, it is temporarily closed due to the damage caused by the

2020 Zagreb earthquake At approximately 6:24 AM Central European Time, CET on the morning of 22 March 2020, an earthquake of magnitude 5.3 , 5.5 , hit Zagreb, Croatia, with an epicenter north of the city centre. The maximum felt intensity was VII–VIII (''Very stro ...

References

Bibliography

Biography

Detalji:MUO-020606: Kuća Slaveks, Zagreb, Svačićev trg: fotografija
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kovacziczz, Viktor 1874 births 1924 deaths Architects from Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni