Zoltan Kiss
Zoltan Kiss studied architecture at the Technical University of Budapest during the Second World War. In his third year, he and other students were forced to escape to Denmark. He would meet his future wife, Jytte, while living as a refugee in this foreign country. Zoltan’s memorie, Without a Blueprint: Surviving in a Changing World, chronicles this time in incredible, illustrated detail.
An adept artist, once described as a “young fellow with a quick pencil,” Zoltan worked in a Danish factory learning the craft of ceramics. In 1949, he was able to immigrate to Canada as a trained potter, and arrived by boat to Halifax a year later. His six-day journey by train to Vancouver cemented the scale of the country in his mind and he settled on the region’s North Shore. Shortly after, Zoltan enrolled at the UBC’s School of Architecture, graduating a year later among the school’s inaugural class.
In the early 1950s, Zoltan joined the venerable Vancouver firm Thompson, Berwick & Pratt. His capacity to illustrate and design quickly and with clarity allowed him to rapidly progress within the firm. He oversaw the design and construction of many projects, including UBC’s first modernist building, the Buchanan Building (1956-1958), and the Vancouver International Airport (1962-1968). When Arthur Erickson and Geoffrey Massey won the competition to oversee the master plan for Simon Fraser University, Zoltan was awarded the coveted contract to design the now iconic Academic Quadrangle (1965-1967). This commission allowed Zoltan to kick-start his own independent practice.
Zoltan continued to develop his interests in art, painting, and ceramics throughout this architectural career. He was an industrious maker, once building himself a kiln from an old refrigerator, and potter’s wheel from driftwood and other found materials. A passion for making had a clear influence on his thinking, and one can see this intimate understanding of materiality in his architecture. He often worked in concrete and masonry to render bold, yet thoughtful, buildings in the modernist tradition. And, Zoltan’s drawings, paintings, and sketches demonstrate an astute ability not only to capture the tectonics of a place, but also effectively communicate their character and spirit.
Photographs by Selywn Pullan. Collection of West Vancouver Art Museum.
Exhibited at the League’s ‘Masters of West Coast Modernism,” September 12, 2017. Photo by Martin Knowles.
In 2017, for the League’s “Masters of West Coast Modernism” series, we asked Zoltan to select mementos of personal and professional significance. These are the items he selected.
Hand Drawing
Zoltan Kiss, Lahaina, c. 1971
Ink on Paper
Drawn on the beach in Lahaina on Maui, Zoltan recalls that the “shapes, without the help of an architect, were exciting, particularly underpinning.” The complexity of the structures, set into the sand along the edge of the waves, presents an intriguing hand-crafted response to its place. Of his many artistic pursuits, sketching has been an important aspect of Zoltan’s life–particularly his worldly travels–as it has afforded him “a more intimate connection to these places and allowed for the elimination of unwanted details from [his] surroundings.”
Exhibited at the League’s ‘Masters of West Coast Modernism,” September 12, 2017.
Photo by Martin Knowles.
Pottery
Zoltan Kiss, Untitled, c. 2005
Raku
Pottery had always been a part of Zoltan’s artistic explorations. He was first introduced to ceramics in 1946, and worked in a Danish factory manufacturing everything from bricks to dinnerware, beginning a lifelong fascination with the medium. Following his retirement from architectural practice, Zoltan became interested in the processes of Raku pottery. This pot, created using this process, was terminated during firing. Zoltan recalled: “I was watching the temperature in the kiln starting to melt the glaze and some interesting bubbles appeared. I decided to stop the firing and so to speak, show “the process” of the creation of the glaze. I knew it would be unique and could not be repeated again.”
- Zoltan Kiss (August 2017). Interview with Chelsea Louise Grant and Steve Gairns, West Coast Modern League.
- Zoltan Kiss Personal Archives.
