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Ödön Lechner (08.27.1845 - 06.10.1914) was a Hungarian architect who gained a great reputation for his buildings influenced by Art Nouveau.
From 1875 to 1878 he studied in Paris the formal languages of the Art Nouveau. Together with his friend Vilmos Zsolnay, whose family ran a factory for ceramics,
he was the inventor of the so-called "pyrogranite" material, a green-gray granite-like artificial stone. This material was often used by Ödön in his buildings.
In his desings he applied numerous components from this manufacturer. Gyula Pártos was often involved in the drafts to his buildings.
In the last decade of the 19th century emerged several large buildings, in a period when Hungary remembered its own nationalism, and when many buildings
were created in Budapest. Already with the building of the town hall in Szeged, Ödön Lechner received great recognition and continued to set standards in Budapest with
the construction of the Museum of Decorative Arts, which is dominated by floral elements. In 1920 the interio was painted completely white, not to distract from the exhibits.
Another great building was realized with the building of the Geological Institute of the University, today known as Geological Museum. The Post Office Savings Bank,
which is part of the building of the National Bank today, is considered to be another showpiece of Art Nouveau in Budapest. In this building Ödön Lechner continued his own ideas
of a Hungarian national style. In this relation, his attitude was in contrast to Otto Wagner, who also designed a building for the Post Office Savings Bank in Vienna.
According to the opinion of Otto Wagner the desing of modern buildings in large cities should be independent of national considerations.
In his buildings Ödön Lechner used decorative elements from Hungarian folk art, whose origins were believed to be in Persia or India during the time of Hungarian nationalism.
In the reception of his works, he is considered as an early Hungarian representative of the Secession. Sometimes his work is compared with that of Antoni Gaudí.
1901 Postal Savings Bank - Budapest