Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
Influences
IS The Elizabeth bridge from the Pest side, with the Klotild-Palaces, after 1903 BFL Fotótár KÓS AND BUDAPEST FROM ‘THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CITY IN THE WORLD’ TO ‘DREAMS GOING GREY’ The unification of Pest, Buda and Óbuda into Budapest in 1873 was followed by an incredible, previously unseen period of boom. The huge economical progress brought with it the large-scale development of urban infrastructure. It was then that the modern structure of the city was set with the public buildings that still dominate the city-scape today. The network of avenues and boulevards was created. Bridges were built to connect Pest with Buda. The highlights of the view along the riverbank on both sides - the castle on the Buda Hill and the Parliament with the row of elegant hotel buildings on the Pest side - were conceived and realised. The old, medieval city centre was replaced by the modern, 20th century inner city. Apart from the large scale welfare investments, a great number of cultural and entertainment institutions were created and Budapest became a glorious, buzzing capital. Within the span of a few decades the city turned into a well-functioning metropolis with almost a million inhabitants. Ml Eastern Railway Station photo by György Klösz BFL Fotótár 18 The Rókus Chapel and surroundings photo by György Klösz BFL Fotótár The progressive-minded István Bárczy was mayor of the city for over a decade (1906-1918). When proclaiming his program, he declared himself to be an energetic person ‘committed to municipal independence, a strong national culture and modern democratic progress’ and he did indeed work as mayor in this spirit. For the first time the municipal authorities came to represent and support the interests of the bourgeoisie, including the petit bourgeoisie as opposed to a narrow patrician elite. The new, liberal leadership of Budapest proved most effective in the field of education, culture, social welfare housing and the regulation of village factories and enterprises. However, the Bárczy administration had other notable achievements and intentions, such as turning the privately owned Margit Island into a public park, building the two most elegant spas of the city (Széchenyi and Gellért) and also the Budapest Zoo; as well as planning the reconstruction of the Tabán area in the heart of the city and that of some of the outskirts of the city, among other reconstruction ambitions. What did all this metropolitan boom mean to Károly Kós? It was into this atmosphere that Károly Kós arrived from Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), whose population at the time was between 50 and 60 thousand. Between 1902 and 1914 he shared his time between Budapest, the Kalotaszeg/Tara Cälatei region of Transylvania and the Sekler region (Székelyföld). In the first nine years his studies and jobs were all connected to Budapest, but from 1909 on, he gradually turned towards Transylvania, undertaking jobs in Târgu Mures, Cluj and Sfântu Gheorghe. Yet until late 1911 he continued to live in Budapest, where he moved back in the summer of 1912 again, partly with his family. However, in the autumn of 1913 they moved home to Stana for good. 40
