Merk Zsuzsa: Nagy András emlékezete. Egy kisváros, Baja főépítészének munkássága (Bajai dolgozatok 13. Baja, 2001)
To the memory of András Nagy, head architect of Baja (1929–1979)
TO THE MEMORY OF ANDRÁS NAGY, HEAD ARCHITECT OF BAJA (1929-1979) András Nagy, head architect of Baja since 1929, worked during the stormi- 123 est period of the 20 th century. He came to the town at the time of the Great Depression. The date marked the beginning of a really difficult era and, at the same time, opened up new prospects for the architecture of Baja, which became a county seat between the two world wars. András Nagy was born in Budapest on 5 November 1898. He studied architecture at the university from 1920 to 1924 and after graduation taught there as assistant lecturer for four years, then he moved to Baja, where he worked as chief engineer and head architect between 1929 and 1960. Two of his writings can be found in this publication. Both were written about Baja and both show his deep and true love for the town. András Nagy found his home in Baja, or so his relaxed tone tells us in Walking Around Town, first published by Jakab Rapcsányi in his 1934 Baja monograph. This writing is published again since the monograph, a rarity in bibliography, is hardly available today. Apparently Walking Around Town is a dialogue between András Nagy and a friend and colleague from Budapest, which has a realistic background for he was really visited by his friends from the capital, but it is also a personal confession, often aesthetic and architectural confession, about the much-loved town and the man-made environment. His Memoirs are a very important document in the history of the town. Although he finished writing his memoirs in I960, he kept on making it accurate and supplementing it with changes. He finished this augmented manuscript on 18 March 1978, a year before he died. Memoirs bears the sub-title 'The activities of the technical department and administration of Baja from the beginning of June 1929 until the end of December I960'. András Nagy entrusted the museum directorate to preserve all he wrote for future generations, and this is the first time readers have been able to take his writings in their hands. András Nagy worked as head architect of Baja from 1929 until he retired in 1961. During these 32 years he represented continuity, and by working consistently he managed to carry out his architectural ideas under the economic conditions of the war years and the great changes after 1945. Readers of the present and the future can find an index showing the history of buildings, changes in street names and the biographies of
