Only in Krakow by Duncan J.D. Smith

196 West Suburbs 93 An Eclectic Architect 31-108 Kraków (Nowy Świat), a tour of houses by Teodor Talowski beginning at ul. Retoryka 1 Tram 20 to Uniwersytet Jagielloński or Muzeum Narodowe Surely Krakow’s most eccentric architect was Teodor Talowski (1857– 1910). Embracing both backwards-looking Historicism and adventur- ous Art Nouveau, his buildings cherry-pick a variety of architectural styles to which he added his own quirky details. Whimsical beasts, Latin aphorisms and invented histories all played a part in his work. Talowski was born in the village of Zasów in south-east Poland. After attending school in Krakow he spent time in Lwów, where he finished his Masters in architecture. Returning to Krakow in 1881, he became a professor at the city’s University of Technology and Indus- try (Wy ż sza Szkoła Techniczno-Przemysłowa), where over the next 20 years he designed many of his career-defining works. Talowski was a prolific and successful architect designing churches, public buildings and houses across the Austro-Hungarian province of Galicia. In Krakow these included the Hospital of the Bonifratrów Or- der (Szpital Zakonu Bonifratrów) at ul. Trynitarska 11 (Kazimierz), the Sokół Gymnastics Association at ul. Piłsudskiego 27 (Piasek) and the railway bridge over ul. Lubicz (Wesoła) (see no. 65). Talowski’s oeuvre is best represented though by his apartment houses. A cluster of them stand on and around ul. Retoryka (Nowy Ś wiat), where it can be seen how freely he drew on Gothic, Renaissance and Art Nouveau design. Unable to categorise this habit, commentators have categorised it as Eclecticism. The house at ul. Retoryka 1 displays several classic Talowski traits, namely deliberate asymmetry, quirky ornamentation, decorative stone stripes and the use of clinker bricks. Completed in 1890 as a music school, Talowski worked bars of music into the façade alongside a ukulele-playing frog referencing the Rudawa, a tributary of the Vistula (Wisła) that once flowed here. Consequently the building is known as the House under the Singing Frog (Pod ś piewaj ą c ą ż ab ą ) (this use of a memorable moniker dates back to the Middle Ages, when illiteracy and a lack of house numbers forced architects into identifying build- ings figuratively instead). Next door at number 3 (1891) is a house by Talowski with a highly ornate roof gable. Now bypass number 5 to reach number 7, Talowski’s earliest work in Krakow. Completed in 1887, it reveals another Talowski trait,