Register of modern architecture oA HÚ SAV

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of architect Karol Paluš (27 May 1925 – 31 January 2000), we commemorate his legacy by showcasing a selection of his most notable buildings.

Karol Paluš contributed significantly to society through the design and delivery of hundreds of residential flats, numerous scientific institutions and administrative buildings, as well as several urban plans for towns. In 1966, he was awarded the State Honour for Merit in Construction, was a two-time recipient of the Dušan Jurkovič Prize, and was recognised as a distinguished member of the Association of Slovak Architects.

Although he spent the majority of his professional life under an oppressive regime, Paluš consistently sought creative freedom through his work. In an era characterised by the typification and standardisation of construction, he championed diversity, artistry, and experimentation. Even in his housing developments, he focused not on the masses, but on the individual. In his view, a dwelling "must serve human life in all its diversity and completeness."

Formatively, he was certainly influenced by a one-year scholarship in Paris, where he studied monumental painting at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts. After returning from Paris, he continued his studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Prague, where he graduated in architecture and urban planning under the guidance of Adolf Benš.

Paluš entered the architectural profession in the early 1950s, collaborating with Miroslav Tengler on the Miletičova housing complex. He later expanded the development by adding five modernist towers to the lower residential blocks and completing the estate with the Delfín swimming pool.

In the realm of public buildings, Paluš focused on projects with complex operational and technological demands. These included the State Institute for Pharmaceutical Control; the Institute of Chemistry and Nuclear Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; the Institute of Economics and Organisation of Construction, equipped with a medium-capacity computer; the General Directorate of Civil Engineering; ČEDOK; and the State Statistical Office, which housed a large-scale computer system.

He was also part of the collective of architects exploring innovative construction methods in the Experimentalka housing complex. For this project, Paluš designed two apartment buildings constructed from foam silicates, featuring a flexible interior layout. Paluš’s artistic sensibilities were evident in several of his works, notably the design of the State Bank of Czechoslovakia on Dunajská Street in Bratislava, Cultural Centre in Snina, the Kolárovo Urban Renewal Memorial, and his competition entry for the SNP Memorial in Banská Bystrica.

Throughout his life, Karol Paluš remained a dedicated student of architecture, continually expanding his knowledge through travel, engaging with emerging innovations, and reflecting deeply on how people might live in the future. He sought to incorporate a greater degree of scientific understanding—of society, materials, and technology—into the practice of construction. One can only wonder what words he might have chosen, after his lofty visions of human progress, to comment on the current state of his buildings and the way we treat them…

We sincerely thank the architect’s family for their kind support in preparing this collection.