Edo Šen (born Edo Schön; 1877–1949) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

architect notable for creating the foundation of the modern Croatian architecture.

Early life

Šen was born in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

on 10 March 1877. After high school graduation in 1894, he went to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

where he studied at the

Vienna University of Technology TU Wien (TUW; german: Technische Universität Wien; still known in English as the Vienna University of Technology from 1975–2014) is one of the major universities in Vienna, Austria. The university finds high international and domestic recogn ...

. Šen graduated in 1900. After graduation, he worked in the studio of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

n architect

Max Fabiani Maximilian Fabiani, commonly known as Max Fabiani ( it, Massimo, sl, Maks) (29 April 1865 – 12 August 1962) was a cosmopolitan trilingual architect and town planner of mixed Italian-Austrian ancestry, born in the village of Kobdilj near ...

Career

In 1901 Šen returned to Zagreb and started to work as a servant in the City council Civil engineering office. There he led technical tasks related to building and construction control. In 1905 Šen co-founded the Croatian architects club (''Klub hrvatskih arhitekta''). From 1908 to 1919 he was a professor at the Technical School in Zagreb. He was one of the founders, in 1919, of the Faculty of Architecture,

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

and one of its first professors. Later he was elected

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb. Šen's work is strongly influenced by historical

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

. His early eclecticism is characterized by the idiosyncratic elements on the main facade of the

Croatia osiguranje Croatia osiguranje d.d. (English: Croatia Insurance) is an insurance company based in Zagreb. Croatia osiguranje is the largest and oldest insurance firm in Croatia. As of 2018, its share in the Croatian insurance market is approximately 32%. ...

palace in

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...

street, Zagreb. After 1918 his work shows the influence of the

Modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

, but that influence was not applied dogmatically. Representative public buildings, such as the Institute of Forestry (1926) in

Božidar Adžija Božidar Adžija ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар Аџија; 24 December 1890 – 9 July 1941) was a Yugoslav communist politician and publicist. Biography A native of Drniš in the Kingdom of Dalmatia (present-day Croatia), of Croat and Serb descent ...

street, Zagreb, is massed in large cubic forms expressing restrained monumentality. Other Sen's realization of that era are apartment buildings "Mervar" (former "Society humanity home") in Petrinjska street and residential building "Bezuk" in Boškovićeva street, all in Zagreb. During his career he worked with the Croatian architect Juraj Denzler. In 1930 Šen started to work with another Croatian architect, Milovan Kovačević. Kovačević was also his assistant at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb. Šen died in Zagreb on 16 June 1949.

Gallery

Image:Edo Šen- Kuća Vasić, Varšavska 6, Zagreb (1928.).jpg, Residential building Vasić, Varšavska street 6, Zagreb. Image:Edo Šen i Milovan Kovačević- Arhitektnski ( Tehnički) fakultet, Kačićeva ulica 26, Zagreb (1938-40.).JPG, Faculty of Architecture,

, Kačićeva street 26, Zagreb. Image:Edo Šen- Palača Croatia, ugao Preradovićeva - Masarykova, Zagreb (1909.- 1910.).jpg, Croatia osiguranje palace, corner of Preradovićeva - Masarykova street, Zagreb.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sen, Edo 1877 births 1948 deaths Architects from Zagreb Croatian Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews Croatian Austro-Hungarians TU Wien alumni Jewish architects University of Zagreb faculty