Viktor Kovačić: the founder of Croatian modern architecture
There aren't many figures or pieces of work in the history of Croatian modern architecture who can, in their significance, compare to Viktor Kovačić (1874 – 1924), its founder. His opus, realized in the first decades of the 20th century, is marked by the fanatic belief in the artistic nature of architecture, to which he dedicated his entire life. Typical for the generation formed in the spiritual climate of modernism, Kovačić's relationship is equally subtle with the past as well as the coming century. He had foregone the historicism, considering it a form of pure imitation of past stylistic models in favor of modernism, in which he found an inexhaustible inspiration for the synthesis of traditional and modern and which is the constant of his opus. It is, at the same time, the reason why the body of work of Kovačić with his multiple talents, ranging in a wide array of tasks from shaping furniture and interiors to demanding sacral and public construction, is impossible to precisely define by any style.Uncompromising commitment to the artistic perception of architecture, Kovačić manifested by participating in numerous art exhibitions, starting with Croatian salon (Hrvatski salon) 1898, which completed the cultural transformation of Croatian modernism, then in exhibitions for the Art society, in the World exhibition in 1900, in Paris where he exhibited two proposal plans for the imperial summer residence Orianda in Crimea, his final thesis under Otto Wagner in Vienna in 1899, to the Paris exhibition in 1925, where his opus was presented posthumously as a retrospective in a reference frame of the review exhibition of architecture in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kraljevina SHS), awarded with a grand-prix.In 1900, Kovačić published the programmatic article „Modern architecture“ in the art magazine Život, in which he defines his point of view on functionalist architecture based on the starting point of rationalistic interpretation of topics from the history of architecture. The architectural scene in Zagreb at the time was marked by the appearance of a new generation, responsible for a definitive affirmation of secession to which, apart from Ignjat Fischer, Rudolf Lubynski, Vjekoslav Bastl, Stjepan Podhorski, Dioniz Sunk and Aladar Baranyaiji, Viktor Kovačić also belongs to. Thanks to him, The club of Croatian architects was founded in 1905, giving encouragement and support to the generation's like-minded members- supporters of the modernist experiment.A characteristic example of Kovačić's modernism are double structure buildings Oršić-Divković (Zagreb, Masarykova street, 21-23, 1906/1907), which by their refined shaping language manifest the spirit of the German secession and precede the purist architecture of the 1920s. Preserved in its original state, Viktor Kovačić's loft in Masarykova 21 even today testifies to his perception of comfort and the importance of quality of everyday life in an ambience tailored in his own measure. Certain parts of the loft make the structural unit and functional or decorative items he acquired as a passionate art collector give to each segment an individualized spatial quality. A comment by A.G.Matoš, dated from 1908, gives the best testimony to the popularity of Kovačić's loft: „ A true piece of art with its soft grey tones and an implemented lapidary principle; nothing in this nest is redundant. The ladies in Zagreb, having the eye for the poetry of interieur, for the greatest skill of making the effect of great style out of nothing by using small things went, as if going to the pilgrimage, to the inauguration of that loft, maybe the most tasteful loft in Zagreb (...).“The Stock Exchange Palace, today the Croatian National Bank headquarters (Zagreb, Croatian Nobles Square 3 / Franje Račkog street, 1 / Martić street,1, 1923/1927) is the last architectural work of Kovačić and also the most demanding designing task. This building was the most important facility being built in Zagreb at the time. The representative purpose was given an expression of balance in a purified classic repertoire between monumental and functional shaping. It was realized through the logic of materials (marble from Brač), a daring reinforced concrete structure with a portico facade, the perfect harmony of details, spatial organization and proportions. Conceived literally and symbolically as an entrance in the new part of the city at the time, this building has outlined, in the most appropriate way, the metropolization characteristics of a growing city, valid even after a hundred years.
Jasna Galjer
