Ostrich House (Budapest Zoo and Botanic Gardens)
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“…in the corner appears the lower house of the ostriches, striking in its vivid colors; around it are large yards in which these large bird giants, kept in greater numbers, can roam. Their house is built in an Egyptian style with appropriate ornamentation.”
— Adolf Lendl: The New Zoo, Magyar Építőművészet, 1909.
The rectangular-plan building was adjoined by a circular wing. The structure of the rammed-earth house with a thatched or reed-covered roof shows many affinities with the architecture of the Hungarian Great Plain. At the same time, individual decorative elements—such as idol-like posts carved in an African style—introduced an exotic atmosphere.
Following the Second World War, the building was destroyed. The carved idol posts were recreated in the late 1990s and placed in front of the new Bison House.
Bibliography
Lendl Adolf: Az új állatkert. Magyar Építőművészet VII/6. 1909. (1-16.)
Györgyi Dénes: Az állatkertről. In: Magyar Építőművészet, IV/10-12. 1912. (1-44.)
Gall, Anthony: Kós Károly műhelye – tanulmány és adattár. Mundus Magyar Egyetemi Kiadó, Budapest, 2002 (155.) [1909-1b]
Fabó Beáta–Anthony Gall: „Napkeletről jöttem nagy palotás rakott városba kerültem”. Kós Károly világa 1907–1914. Budapest Főváros Levéltára, 2014 (110.)
