Fabó Beáta - Gall, Anthony: I came from the East to a City of Great Palaces. Károly Kós, the early years 1907-1914 (Budapest, 2013)
Kós' First Steps as an Independent Architect
Károly Kós' drawing of the entrance to the churchyard, Körösfő/lzvoru Crisului, Kalotaszeg/Tara Cálatei region, 1907 Kós Károly: Erdélyország népének építése Inner and outer courtyard The museum and adjoining buildings (an open-air museum section and the residential houses for the museum guards) occupy an enormous plot. The road coming from the city centre meets the side fence on the chapel’ side. The inner courtyard is accessible through the pedestrian gate on the axis of symmetry of the tower, while there was a traditional Székely gate for carriages on either side. The painted gate from Zetelaka/Zetea, made in 1875, was found in the autumn of 1913 during a study trip when Kós and Zrumeczky left from Sztána/Stana in a horse-drawn carriage to make a tour of Transylvania. Kós created a small courtyard in front of the main entrance. Entrance into this small courtyard is via a small gate-tower, calling to mind the entrances to the fortified Transylvanian churchyards. Stepping into the courtyard we are presented with the robust Romanesque entrance at the base of the central tower. The interconnection of these two towers and the courtyard is a central theme in vernacular Transylvanian architecture. The initial impression calls to mind the Saxon clock tower of Segesvár/ Sighisoara or the steep rooves of the Romanian and Hungarian village cottages. The realised Museum differs from the original sketches in that the courtyard originally expanded to the right of the tower, whereas when completed this was reversed. This was presumably because in the original composition the courtyard would not have received as much sun, although this was perhaps a more preferable view for the visitors arriving from the town centre. A tower positioned between two assymetrically located side-wings was a characteristic of Kós' work SZNM fotótár, contemporary postcard The traditional gate of 1773, relocated from Dálnok/Dalnic, SZNM fotótár The courtyard entrance László Haris 164
