Milan Rastislav Štefánik's burial place and memorial, on Bradlo hill, celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. (source: Jana Liptáková)
THE SOCIETY of Slovak Architects has declared 2008 the year of Dušan Jurkovič.Jurkovič (1868-1947) is remembered as the designer of M.R. Štefánik 's burial mound on Bradlo hill, the house of culture in Skalica, and many other creations in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. His works feature extraordinary architectural design inspired and influenced by Art Nouveau, early modernism, and functionalism.
The celebration will mark the 140th anniversary of Jurkovič’s birth.
On June 25, a plaque was placed at the building of the former Staatsgewerbeschule, the National School of Industry in Vienna, where Jurkovič studied. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Society of Slovak Architects (SAS), led by architect Štefan Šlachta, Slovak Ambassador to Austria Peter Lizák, architect Ján Bahna, and Jurkovič’s descendants, the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry stated in a press release.
On the same day, an exhibition dedicated to Jurkovič’s work opened in Vienna. The exhibit, called Architect Dušan Jurkovič and his Message to the Present, also marks the 80th anniversary of the unveiling of the monument to M.R. Štefánik on Bradlo hill, in western Slovakia.
The exhibition presents drawings by Jurkovič and works by contemporary architects who have received the prize bearing his name. It will run until September 5.
