Hungarian Heritage Review, 1990 (19. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1990-01-01 / 1. szám
Roth, Jr.’s appetite for world travel has led to the development of the firm on a world scale. Halfway around the globe, Emery Roth and Sons has designed and is designing great structures in Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. Huge condominium complexes, shopping centers and marinas and monumental office buildings carry the Roth banner in these exotic and distant places. Perhaps none is more impressive than the $500 million China World Trade Center in Beijing. This project will include high-rise office buildings, a hotel, an apartment tower, restaurants, shops and convention centers, all connected by a network of Chinese gardens. Upon completion this vast Center will be the largest building project in China since the construction of the Great Wall. Hungarian Origins and Roots The entire saga of the Roth architectural empire begins in the little Hungarian town of Galszecs, where, in 1871, Emery Roth was born. The son of a relatively well-to-do family - they owned and managed the town’s inn - Emery found his life relatively easy. Upon his father’s falling ill, however, and with his mother’s inability to continue to run the inn, hard times fell upon the Roths. It was decided to send young Emery to the United States under the care of one Aladar V. Kiss, who undertook to look after the boy, then thirteen years old. Things did not work out quite as they were planned, however, and young Emery found himself alone in New York, with about $7 in his pocket. He made his way to Chicago where he was to contact Mr. Kiss. Here, too, he met with failure - he had lost the slip of paper on which he had written Mr. Kiss’ address - and his struggle began. Suffice it to say that, on the basis of his own talent and his determination, young Emery went from job to job and calling to calling until, having gained considerable experience as an apprentice designer, he was able to establish his owii architectural business in 1903, when he' was thirty-two years of age. Emery Roth’s story continues is one of the miraculous “rags-to-riches” tales so familiar to Americans, with the additional fact that he not only left his mark upon his city of New York, but he also founded the firm that bears his name. In addition, five of Emery Roth’s creations have now been designated as New York City landmark buildings. A Return and a Continuation Richard Roth, Jr. is presently at the helm of the firm’s developing close ties with Hungary. The Hungarian Consulate and Mission to the United Nations are being designed by Emery Roth and Sons, and a branch office has been opened in Budapest to oversee the design and production of ten new hotels that are to be completed in time for the proposed Vienna/Budapest World Trade Fair in 1995. It is pleasing to note that the two children of Richard Roth, Jr. and his wife Alene - Robin Roth-Moise and Richard Lee Roth - are both working within the family organization in management or directorial positions. This seems to imply that the heritage of Grandfather Emery will continue. This bodes well for the architectural future of New York City and, perhaps, for the design and building history of the world. ************ JANUARY 1990 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW 15
