Ferkai András: Shopfronts - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1996)
tained its aura of exclusiveness, but since the appearance of its rivals “Salamander” and “Bally”, its standards have deteriorated, which has had a negative influence on both the shop and its frontage. The frontage of the “Cosmos” travel agency (3 Molnár utca, District V), designed in 1992 by Imre Sajó, a representative of a younger generation, reveals similar theoretical considerations. Having received a Moholy-Nagy scholarship, Sajó, a student of Reimholz’s at the College of Applied Arts, studied the shopfronts of Budapest for three years. This small piece of art is an original summary of his experiences. When planning the new front, he included in his design elements found on the spot - a wooden column which remained there from the original shopfront, the wall and a steel beam that were revealed after the casing of the shutters was opened. He did not have the dilapidated semi-circular plaster-work restored on the right of the shopfront; instead, he framed the crude brick surface with a chromium strip and carefully conserved it as if it were a “Cosmos” travel agency at 3 Molnár ütca, V 46