Hungarian brothers Imre (1925–1998) and Gyula (1927–1994) Soos were prominent designers in Sydney during the 1950s, Imre as an architect and Gyula as a designer. Their 1954 ‘flat for bachelors’, with creatively integrated furniture, was featured in Australian House and Garden, and their ‘three way wonder’ adjustable recliner retailed at Grace Brothers department store; now known as the Soos chair, it is held in the collection of the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, Sydney. Among their creative and theatrical cafe interiors, often designed in conjunction with Imre’s wife, Hedda, and including lighting, sculptures, murals and furniture, were the Mars Espresso Lounge on Pitt Street, Sydney (1957), and the 1958 refit of the 100-seat Georges Restaurant, Double Bay.

By the 1960s the brothers’ partnership had dissolved. Gyula moved into construction and Imre worked on the Snowy Mountains scheme before leaving Australia for an international career in the design of hydropower and dam construction.

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Posted by:Rebecca Hawcroft

Researcher of architecture and design history, Rebecca curated the 2017 Museum of Sydney exhibition The Moderns: European designers in Sydney and edited the book The Other Moderns (New South Press, 2017)

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