Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 32. (Budapest, 2018)
Piroska NOVÁK: On the porcelain designer career of Éva Ambrus
Manufactory, Hódmezővásárhely Majolica Factory, Hollóháza Porcelain Factory, Kalocsa Porcelain Painting Operation, Kőbánya Porcelain Factory, Romhány Building Ceramics Factory, Városlőd Majolica Factory and Zsolnay Porcelain Factory. 13 ‘The Council of Applied Arts and FIM announced a competition in 1965, when construction of the factory began. The competition called for designers working in the industry to create a service for manufacture in Vásárhely. Mrs István Torma’s ‘Krisztina5 service won. Manufacturing of it began in 1970-71.’ Ambrus, Éva (2016): The situation of the fine ceramics industry from the 1960s onwards. [Manuscript]. Museum of Applied Arts, Archives, KLT 4307/1-8. 14 Based on Éva Ambrus’s account. Interview with ceramics artist Éva Ambrus on 21 March 2017. 15 Museum of Applied Arts, Ceramics and Glass Collection, inv. no.: 2017.43—44. and inv. no.: 2017.46.1-2.1-2. 16 A perhaps somewhat too sharp critique of the works submitted for the Varia competition was given by Nikolett Dárday in Ipari Művészet: D.N. (Nikolett Dárday): Porcelain and glass competition. In: Ipari Művészet 1972/4, 16-18. 17 Museum of Applied Arts, Ceramics and Glass Collection, inv. no.: 77.5.23.1. and 87.103.26.1. as well as 78.200.1-22. and 88.386.1-14. 18 The creation of another emblematic table service is linked to the Varia competition. The Saturnus set designed by László Horváth, which—since it was designed for the facilities of the Herend Porcelain Factory—did not meet any of the requirements of the competition, nevertheless won a special prize for its modern and striking design. One year later the Saturnus set won the gold medal at the famous Premio Faenza (International Competition of Contemporary Ceramic Art). This put pressure on the Fine Ceramics Industrial Works, leaving them with no choice but to have the Saturnus set manufactured in the Alföld Porcelain Factory. It is true, however, that the shapes had to be significantly modified, and even then, a large percentage of the manufactured items had imperfections. 19 American designer and theoretician Jay Doblin contributed the concept of systems design to the guiding principles of design theory in the late 1960s. The essence of the method was that it was not the finished product that set the direction of the process or system but rather the process that determined the range of products, which were designed for a certain purpose and ensured optimal efficiency and diverse utility. With the Kitchen Program for Prefabricated Houses, an evaluation of the kitchen work process determined those functions that were coordinated with each other, and which, when turned into tangible objects, in the end created a complex system. For more on systems design in Hungarian, see Doblin, Jay: A formatervezés tudománya. Az Ipari formatervezés szimpózium előadáskézirata, Budapest, MTESZ (Műszaki és Természettudományi Egyesületek Szövetsége), 1971,1-14. 20 Museum of Applied Arts, Ceramics and Glass Collection, inv. no.: 87.103.1-25. and 87.104.1-8. 21 Based on Éva Ambrus’s account. Interview with ceramics artist Éva Ambrus on 21 March 2017. 22 Museum of Applied Arts, Ceramics and Glass Collection, inv. no.: 79.219.1-69. 23 Éva Ambrus summarized the process of designing the UNISET-212 set in a case study: Ambrus, Éva: The creation of the UNISET-212 family of dishware for the food service industry. Case Study. In Ipari Forma 1977/5,15-17. (henceforth Ambrus 1977). 24 Ambrus 1977,16. 25 Ambrus 1977,16. 26 Ambrus 1977, 17. 27 See the products offered on the official homepage of the Alföld Porcelain Factory, Ltd.: http://www. alfoldporcelan.hu/new_weh/new_index. php?g=3&i=l&cs=2&l=h (accessed 25 August 2017). 117
