Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
A view from afar
the Városmajor school or the Wekerle Estate were as much architectural projects as innovative socio-institutional models. In this respect it is especially noteworthy that these institutions have preserved their original function and work in their respective original buildings to this day. Formulating and interpreting, and then realising social institutional systems in a practical and grass roots manner became a key factor in his later life. Apart from the ministries and the municipality, some smaller towns also sought to involve Kós and his colleagues to work on their projects - predominantly Marosvásárhely/Tárgu Mures, Kecskemét, Sepsiszentgyörgy/Sfäntu Gheorghe and Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca. Although Kós and Györgyi's cooperation with Kecskemét discontinued, their spirit did live on in the town in the works of Béla Jánszky, Tibor Szivessy and Valér Mende. In Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca, Kós designed the houses of the City Clerk and the Deputy Mayor. In Marosvásárhely/Tárgu Mures the Mayor commissioned Kós to design the buildings of the town's Public Works complex. Kós designed several buildings jointly with Ede Toroczkai Wigand, who had previously settled in Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca. However open-minded and curious, Kós was, above all, guided by his commitment to his roots, medieval culture and folk culture - which, in his case, sprang from his moral values. In specific terms, it meant Transylvania, his family home. First of all it was the Kalotaszeg/Tara Cälatei region that he discovered as a primary school student, it was where his heart was, but later, during his ramblings, study trips and assignments, he expanded it to encompass the whole of Transylvania, with special emphasis on the Székely region, but also, in a certain sense, the whole of Hungary and Budapest, its capital - where, as he admitted himself, he had always felt a stranger to some extent. Considering all this, it is hardly surprising that he eventually decided to live in Transylvania. His commitment to his home country is also shown by the fact that he married the daughter of a Kalotaszeg Calvinist parson, Ida Balázs and by the fact that he chose to establish a home for his family in Sztána/Stana, in what was initially their weekend house. When in 1909 the young but already successful architect committed to paper the first sketches of Crow Castle, including an emotional manifesto and a little poem and then decided to buy the small lot near the railway lines in the steep hillside, he probably didn't think to what extent this decision would determine the life of his family and, partly, even the fate of the Hungarian ethnicity in Transylvania. His commitment and strong will led him to the path - or as he called it, his fate - that he walked all his life, among the vicissitudes of the 20th century. In all, the young architect who emerges before our eyes is talented, open-minded, somewhat lucky but very hardworking, full of faith and ready to serve. It is a view of him from afar that we would like to hereby present to the public. 17 Source: Kós Károly: Életrajz, 1991 Interview excerpts: 1969 (Gulyás Gyula, manuscript)
