Szilágyi András (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 17. (Budapest, 1998)

Éva HORÁNYI: A Villa in Berkenye Street. A Contribution to the Activity of Lajos Kozma in the Villa Architecture of the 1930's in Buda

windows still produces a remarkable special effect. Since the semi-circular section which had once functioned as a dining room has been included in the studio flat, the remaining living room can no longer fulfil that function. Of all the elements of the characteristic curved dining furniture only a few mauve coloured upright chairs remain. To the right of the entrance to this room the elegant marble covered radiator case survives in its original state, totally intact and complete with its chromiumplated grill. A part of the bookshelves of the drawing room corner have been ingeniously fitted around the two surviving elements of the bedroom sofas but the green wicker suite and the accompanying black glass round table stand in their original position. The two-drawer desk and the accompanying comfortable armchair which stand in a jutting out corner of the bedroom near the balcony are easy to recognise on the old photographs and interior design sketches. The same is tme of a small double-decker round table which stands in front of the couch and of the two armchairs which arc upholstered with a brownish striped velvet. The plain low cupboard presently visible in the bedroom is new but it was remade of the identical material and after the identical design as the original. The two attractively shaped wicker armchairs which stand in front of the windows are also "cscued" pieces. The kitchen also retains its original character almost entirely, as do the red rubber floors and fitted cupboards of the garderobc with the accompanying ingenuous stepladder. The last wardrobe element on the left hand side has been reversed to face the neighbouring room so that now this serves the owners of the flat next door. Although the surface coverings have survived, the bathroom has not been able to retain its original elegance after the divisions. The bright orange textile coating which runs along the walls of the hall and the connecting passageway, together with the plain chromium-plated hangers, is an excellent proof of Kozma's talent for daring colour combinations. The owner's unparalleled attachment to the tiniest details of a home which was created more than sixty years ago is probably sufficient proof of the fact that the principles which Kozma formulated and enforced in the design of homes have stood the test of time. This is true even if the followers of "strict functionalism" have often reproached him because his laudably adapted and sensitively applied constructive approach was often combined with manifestations of his "proclivity for decoration" - evidently a consequence of his background in the applied arts. At any rate, Kozma's remarkable capacity for spatial organisation, his exceptional talent for interior design complemented by his applied arts design skills as well as the grandeur and careful attention of the execution of his work have all combined to raise the Berkenye Street Villa to the rank of Kozma's most excellent residential buildings, not only in the eyes of the inhabitants but also by the standards of the profession. Beside this irrefutable and unanimous professional judgement of posterity let us include a brief reflection from Kozma's own time as a graphic example of the effect that this grand bourgeois villa and its impressive interior space made on one of Kozma's contemporaries. The author of the following quote is Jenő Thassy, a 24-year-old army officer at the time, who in 1944 came to play a part in military resistance to the German occupation. The following sentences come from his memoirs Dangerous Land, published in 1996. "The villa in question is a palace of concrete and glass on three stories with two enormous balconies which, standing on the