A special exhibition at the Bratislava Jewish Community Museum is exploring the life and work of the prolific Bratislava-based Jewish architect Artur Szalatnai-Slatinský (1891-1961) — whose designs include the still-active Heydukova st. synagogue, where the museum is located in the women’s gallery.
The synagogue, one of Szalatnai-Slatinský’s most important works, was built in 1923-1924 in a mixture of traditionalist architecture, Cubist style and modern technologies. And, as the museum itself puts it: “It is fair to say that the synagogue building itself is the main exhibit of the show.”
The exhibition, which focuses on his work in Bratislava, is part of centenary celebrations of the synagogue building. It opened June 30 and runs until October 6.
An urban planner and the author of books and articles in architectural journals, Szalatnai-Slatinský, who was a member of the Bratislava Jewish community, also designed public buildings, homes, commercial spaces, gravestones, and sanatoria. The web site architectuul.com writes:
Szalatnai was a pioneer of modern architecture in Slovakia, carrying out extensive work in Bratislava, Piestany, Trencianske Teplice, Komarno and elsewhere. He was popular among the Jewish middle class, becoming a sought-after specialist for villas and residential houses, sanatoria and spa complexes. Szatalnai contributed to the Bratislava architectural journals Forum and Slovensky stavitel as well as to foreign publications. He was particularly interested in the urbanism of Slovak towns and also collected material on folk architecture.
He survived the Holocaust in hiding in Bratislava, and after the war created the Holocaust memorial in front of the Neolog synagogue in the town of Trnava.
The exhibition includes period pictures, photographs, documents, publications, and original designs from his estate.
Watch a video about the Heydukova synagogue and community museum:
Click here for the link to the museum
Click for his biography on architectuul.com