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
THE CALVINIST PARSONAGE AND PRAYER HALL OF ÓBUDA, BUDAPEST EH Street elevation A Ház, 1909.9-10. 10 The rear of the Parsonage with the Assembly Hall A Ház, 1909.9-10. ■ Ground and first floor plans A Ház, 1909.9-10. 1908 ‘It happened around this time that Zrumeczky came to see me with the news that we could obtain the commission to design, oversee and financially manage the construction of the Calvinist parsonage and prayer hall in Óbuda - if only we would undertake the job together. ‘And who is the Father Christmas who shakes all of this out of his sackfor us?’ I inquired.’ ‘The curator of the parish, my present master.’ (Kornél Neuschloss, Zrumeczky’s employer at the time, was a member of a rich and influential Slovenian family involved in the lumbering industry, who, however, had neither the talent nor the willingness to become a businessman and so he became an architect - and a member of Budapest’s municipal board.) ‘But how do I get into this company? I don’t even know Neuschloss.’ 'Wait. Initially he offered the job to me. I considered and realised that I couldn't possibly do it on my own, what with my duties at the office. /.../In short, Neuschloss and I agreed on you. (Yourpublications in 'Magyar Iparművészet' proved good publicity.) The question is, will you take on doing it with me?’ ‘Of course I will. I have no other difficult jobs on my hands at the moment, I have the time to do the planning and we’ll somehow get round the overseeing part as well.' This is how I came by my first ever (joint) municipal assignment.’K0S 1991:83~84' Kós and Dezső Zrumeczky were commissioned in the spring of 1908 by the Calvinist Church, where Kornél Neuschloss was one of the curators. The parsonage was designed and constructed at the same time as the church of Zebegény. Zrumeczky was employed in Neuschloss' office at the time. Sharing the designing tasks was an important feature of the mode of operation of Kós and ‘The Young Ones’ in general. The success of this design was one of the factors that gave the incentive to Neuschloss, an influential municipal board member, to recommend Kós and Zrumeczky for the task of designing the buildings for the Budapest Zoo. The puritan main facade is enlivened by the sculptural wooden structure of the protruding balcony, framed between the rustic stone plinth below and the dominant roof form above. 66
