Ivan Margolius

Ivan Margolius was born in Prague, where he began studying architecture at the Czech Institute of Technology. In 1966 he arrived in the United Kingdom and completed his training at The Polytechnic, before practising at Foster + Partners, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Yorke Rosenberg Mardall and working with Jan Kaplickı of Future Systems on projects and books. He is the author of many award winning articles and books on art, architecture, engineering, automobile design, including 'Prague: a guide to twentieth-century century architecture', 'Tatra - The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka' (Cugnot Award of Distinction 1991), 'Art + Architecture', 'Automobiles by Architects', 'Architects + Engineers = Structures', 'Czech Inspiration' and 'Reflections of Prague: Journeys through the 20th century'. Ivan is the son of JUDr Rudolf Margolius (1913-1952), who was murdered as a result of the Slánskı Trial in Prague in 1952, and Heda Margolius Kovály (1919-2010), translator and author of 'Under A Cruel Star' and 'Innocence'. Margolius' book 'Reflections of Prague' complements his mother's books and adds additional background to his family's story. 'Jan Kaplickı Drawings' was published by Circa Press, 2015. The revised edition of 'Tatra - The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka' came out in November 2015. In November 2017 Ivan received the first prize in the British Czech and Slovak Association International Writing Competition. In February 2018 his mother's book 'Hitler, Stalin and I' was published translated by him. Margolius received an ‘Honorary Silver Medal of Jan Masaryk’ for his ‘outstanding contribution to the development of relations between the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom’ on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution in November 2019. In 2021 Margolius received Miroslav Ivanov Prize for Non-fiction for his Czech edition 'Jan Kaplickı - pro budoucnost a pro krásu' monograph published by CPress, in 2020. The English edition of 'Jan Kaplickı - For the Future and For Beauty' was published by Edition Axel Menges in September 2022.