Wavy facade
Floral motifs.
Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0
Reök Palace is a striking Art Nouveau building in central Szeged in southern Hungary, at the corner of Kölcsey utca and Feketesas utca. Today it houses the Regional Arts Centre, which hosts changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. The architect Ede Magyar designed it, and it was completed in 1907 for Iván Reök, a leading landowner, member of the Hungarian Parliament and head of the regional river engineering office. Magyar's design drew on his travels in Western Europe, above all the work of the Belgian Victor Horta and the Frenchman Hector Guimard. The cream facade flows with organic lines and floral motifs, which many read as a nod to the owner's work in water engineering. Balconies, windows and roofline ripple like waves, scattered with pale green flower ornaments. Inside, a white spiral staircase has an iron railing wound with a climbing plant in orange and gold blooms. Visitors take in the facade from the street and the square beside it, then go in to see the exhibitions and the decorated staircase. The building was first an apartment house for the Reök family and private tenants before it was turned over to public cultural use.
Floral motifs.
A flowering railing.
Modern and contemporary art.
Tisza Lajos körút 56, central Szeged, Hungary
Yes, to visit the exhibitions.
The architect Ede Magyar.
