Sixty years ago, Slovak architect Dušan Samo Jurkovič passed away

Bratislava/Prague - At the age of 79, on December 21, 1947, Slovak architect, furniture designer, and ethnographer Dušan Samo Jurkovič passed away. He was the main representative of distinctive Art Nouveau architecture, lyrically underscored by folk construction and visual arts. His buildings are characterized by modern layouts, unique structural solutions, vivid colors, and natural materials.
Among the most famous works from his extensive and diverse career are, in addition to the buildings at the Beskydy Pustevny and the spa buildings and colonnade in Luhačovice, the tourist lodge Peklo near Nové Město nad Metují, his own villa in Brno-Žabovřesky, and Dr. Náhlovský’s villa in Prague-Bubeneč. Jurkovič also designed buildings for offices, schools, hospitals, residential apartment buildings, numerous monuments and memorials, such as the mound of Milan Rastislav Štefánik at Bradlo, or the impressive military cemeteries for the fallen in the First World War in western Galicia. He was also responsible for the reconstructions of castles in Nové Město nad Metují, Zbraslav, and Molitorov near Kouřim. As the very first architect in Czechoslovakia, he was awarded the title of national artist in 1946.