Dénes Györgyi studied architecture at the Budapest Joseph Technical University, where he met fellow architect Kàroli Kós. With Kós, he founded the “Young Ones,” a group of young architects including Béla Jánszky and Dezső Zrumeczky. Inspired by the New Gothic language of Morris and Ruskin and by Scandinavian National Romanticism, the group explicitly evoked Hungarian Medieval traditions and folk spirit in their works. In 1910, Györgyi collaborated with Kós in the construction of the Városmajor Street Elementary School in Budapest, which included a daycare center, a school, and a pre-school. After Turin 1911, Györgyi participated in several other international expositions and created pavilions for the international exhibition in Barcelona (1929), the Brussels International Exposition (1935), and Paris’ Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937).

Though Károly Kós (1883-1977) did not take part in the construction of the Hungarian Pavilion, is a key figure for understanding the Hungarian Nationalism. During his career, he founded with Dénes Györgyi a new architect team called Fiatalok (The Young ones) in 1907. The Young Ones encompassed different elements in their projects: taking inspiration from the New Gothic language of Morris and Ruskin, they explicitly related to the Hungarian Medieval traditions and folk spirit. In addition, Kós was one of the first architects to theorize a Hungarian national style, which found its roots in the Transylvanian Medieval castles as well as in the simple rural dwellings, with their simple lines and material weight. This design was not just a matter of ornamentation, but was characterized by geometric shape and function. Kós followed Lechner’s style but also detached himself from it by abolishing the decoration of the surfaces in favor of what he termed the real essence of National Romanticism: massive and dynamic forms, smooth surfaces with large windows and asymmetrical structures.

The works of Béla Lajta (1873-1920) were characterized by pre-modern elements, and we can refer to his style as characterized by hybrid elements due of the combination of Scandinavian and English achievements, and modern post-Art Nouveau elements. With Kozma Street Cemetery's Schmidl crypt. As remarkable and in comparison with Attila Pavilion, we can remind The Main Portal of the Institute for the Blind(Budapest, 1905-1908) and the Entrance to the Jewish Charity Home (Budapest, 1909-1911) which both anticipate the structure of the portal of the Hungarian pavilion.

Ödön Lechner studied architecture in Pest, and later at Berlin's Schinkel Academy. After a tour and study period in Italy, he returned to Pest in 1869 where he founded a successful architectural firm with Gyula Pártos.  During the 1870s, they designed a number of apartment buildings on the Pest side of the Danube in a historicist style that combined neo-classical influences from Berlin and the Italian Renaissance. Between 1875 and 1878 he lived in Paris where he was influenced by the art nouveau style. In 1879, Lechner returned to Hungary and, after a trip to London between 1889 and 1890, his style moved away from the Historicist matrix to embrace the Hungarian Secession movement, which was related to Art Nouveau in the rest of Europe.

Lechner typically decorated his buildings with terracotta and Zsolnay ceramic tile patterns inspired by old Magyar and Turkic as well as Indian and Persian folk art. He combined these folk references with the use of modern materials such as iron.

One of Lechner's most renowned works is the Postal Savings Bank (the headquarters of the National Bank of Hungary today) which he completed in 1901. The building combines art nouveau influences with Hungarian motifs and Asian forms.

Istvan Medgyaszay (1877-1959) created works praised for their synthesis of national romanticism and functionalism. Because of his anthropologic interest in Hungarians origins, Medgyaszay integrated engineering innovations (reinforced concrete structure) and compact architectural structures with archetypal motives, such as the tulip (from Turkish tradition), animal symbols (the hook in particular, as symbol of the ancient warriors, and the deer and doe), and pre-Christian religious elements such as the Sun and Moon. His most daring plan was the construction of a National Pantheon in Budapest on the Gellért Hill, the design of which won an award in Vienna in 1903, in Budapest in 1906, in Paris 1907, in London 1909 and in Monza in 1923.

Emil Tőry graduated from the Budapest University of Art in 1887.  He broadened his training in Berlin and Paris, and after returing to Hungary, he opened an architectural firm, while also teaching at the Budapest Art University. From 1908, he collaborated with architect Móric (Maurice) Pogány in Budapest. Among his works is the Adria Insurance building, under the influence of Béla Lajta.

Miklos Zsolnay Jr. (1857-1922) served as President of the Executive Committee for the Pavilion of Hungary at the Exposition of Turin 1911. Miklos was the grandson of Miklos Szolnay Sr., who established the first Zsolnay ceramics factory in 1853, and the youngest son of Vilmos Szolnay. The Szolnay factory started as a brick factory, producing terracotta and earthenware pieces for building decoration. The factory became very successful under the management of Miklos's son, Vilmos Szolnay (1828-1900), who opened it up to the international markets via his participation to the World's Fairs in Vienna (1873) and Paris (1878). Vilmos experimented with different materials and techniques, settling on a new material "that stood somewhere between stoneware and porccelain" that he called "porcelain-faience" (Nefedova 59). 

Miklos Szolnay junior worked at his father’s side from the age of 16. He attended a vocational school (the Academy of Commerce and Industry) in Graz, Austria, and from 1897 he held the position of executive managing clerk, in charge of finances and trading. Following the sudden death of Vilmos in 1900, Miklos took over management and the proprietary rights of the factory, while the manufacturing part of the business was entrusted to his brothers in law, two artists proficient in matters of technology. Under Miklos' leadership, the factory expanded and established outlets in London and Paris, as well as Balkan markets.

After the invention of eosin (a low-fire irridescent glaze) the Zsolnay ceramics became famous all over the world. Zsolnay designs are distinctive, while displaying numerous influences. Even though Hungary was under Ottoman rule for a relatively short period until 1686, the Turkish market remained important for Hungary. In 1877-78, Julia and Terez Zsolnay studied Persian and Indian ornamentation at the Osterreichisches Kunstgewerben Museum in Vienna, Austria, and the resulting items were displayed at the Paris World Exposition in 1878.

In 1887-88 Miklos Szolnay traveled to Turkey, Syria and Egypt and the result was an increasingly strong Islamic influence on the Szolnay porcelain designs. 

Under Miklos Zsolnay Jr. the factory reached the peak of its international success, partnering with the best Hungarian architects and receiving awards in Hungary and abroad.

In 1913, Miklos became a member of the Upper House of the Hungarian Parliament. Before getting married in 1911, he adopted the children of his sisters officially assigning to them the right of using his family name, securing for them, in this way, the right of inheritance. At the end of the First World War, Miklos Zsolnay suffered a nervous breakdown. In 1922, he died in the nursing home of Reckawinkel, in today's lower Austria. The factory continued to be managed by the Szolnay family until 1948 when it was nationalized and the production of decorative ceramics ceased. It was only in 1974 that the factory took the Zsolnay name again.

For almost a century (1853-1948), the Zsolnay Porcelain Manufacturing Company of Pecs was owned by the Zsolnay family: "family members originated designs, supervised and trained ceramic workers, introduced stunning technical innovation in clay and glazes, and worked to promote the company in the international marketplace. by 1900 the spendid art ceramics of the Zsolnay manufactory, especially Art Nouveau pieces, had achieved highest recognition in world expositions throughout Europe and in the United States." (Soros 9). Though one may know the Zsolnay name for the magnificent Art Nouveau pieces, the Zsolnay's productions were eclectic, starting with the historicist pieces and contributions to the creation of a "national style" in the late nineteenth century and expanding into the architectural ceramics that still define the roofs and facades of numerous buildings in the city of Budapest today (for example, the Parliament Building and the Museum of Applied Arts).

See: 

Éva Csenkey and Ágota Steiner, eds. Hungarian Ceramics from the Zsolnay Manufactory 1853-2001. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002.

Olga Nefedova. "Early Zsolnay Porcelain-Faience im the Tareq Rajab Museum." Ceramics Monthly (Jan 2004). 58-60.

Susan Weber Soros, Foreword. Hungarian Ceramics from the Zsolnay Manufactory 1853-2001. Eds. Éva Csenkey and Ágota Steiner. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002. 9-10.