Works by Karoly Kos
The Bird House is the focal point of the group of pavilions designed for the Budapest Zoo.
'...in the corner we find the somewhat lower Ostrich House, with its lively colours and the surrounding runs, suitably spacious for these enormous birds.
The Monkey House, the Rodent House and the Kangaroo House enclose a small square, turning friendly porches, verandas and balconies towards it.
Of the pavilions designed by Kós and Zrumeczky reminiscent of the architecture of distant exotic cultures, the Giraffe House stands out as the most significant.
Similarly to Kós' view of the Kalotaszeg/Tara Cälatei region, the Zoo also is not complete without a castle ruin.
'A smaller building has been designed to stand at the edge of the lake. It stands on poles above the water, with bamboo poles supporting the wide, lightweight roof surrounded by a wide corridor.
The Kangaroo House is one of the two smaller pavilions enclosing the little square in front of the Monkey House. Similar to the House of Small Rodents, it has a shingle roof.
The shingle roof of the small, single-floor building was originally decorated with elaborately carved and painted rabbits and small rodents.
The Deer House resembles the wooden houses of by-gone years on the slopes of the Transylvanian Alps, including the traditional cellular plan-form of the Kalotaszeg/Tara Cälatei region.
'Although the Pheasant House was modelled upon its counterpart in the Berlin zoo, our own architects have followed their Hungarian inspirations in choosing a style from the home country of wood
‘In 1653 AD I started the construction of the herd barn, for which I hired carpenter János Bot from Sztána. Also, I had new shingles put on the roof of the old house and a new porch added.
‘The Poultry Run, in which a wide variety of types can be raised, could be of special interest to the public of Budapest. Turkeys, hens, and ducks live in the setting ofa small villagefarm.