Oldal 458 [458]
OCR
NATIONAL SYLISTIC ASPIRATIONS surpassing the pursuit of Lechner, such as into the interior and building designs of Ede Wigand Toroczkai.*° International architectural journals also published building designs by Toroczkai and his interior designs even earnt international recognition at world exhibitions in the first decades of the 1900s.*' Similar to Toroczkai’s case, Transylvanian folk art had a great impact on the art of Karoly Kós, who became the inspirational leader of a group of architects who graduated from the Technical University in 1907 called the Youngsters. Kés said: we need to drill our souls into this land on which we are to build... That is the reason I want to live the life of this beautiful nation, of Hungarians, to dream their dreams, to think as they do, to be able to feel and remember as they do. Since this feeling, thought and remembrance are available in their deeds... when they build their churches, cottages and barns.” When Karoly Kós designed his own house called Crow Castle in Sztäna in 1910, he set out from székely architecture characterized by “the closed and integrated qualities of its ground plan, the generous and simple structure neglecting almost any ornamentation emphasizing structural functionality and the monumentality springing up from the relations between planes and openings” in his understanding.** In his art, the influence of English and Finnish architectural designs may be recognized besides folk architecture, mostly the impact of Saarinen. The key importance of the Youngsters lies in the sensitivity with which they composed their structures within a specific environment. Nevertheless, the dilemma persisted whether the principles and forms crystalized in designing cottages for the rural environment were applicable in the city and for public buildings. The cosmopolitan citizens of Budapest did not become part of the clientele of the Youngsters; however, the school and small-flat programme under Mayor Istvan Barczy provided them with some possibility of work.** For more about the topic see: Katalin Keserü: Toroczkai Wigand Ede, Budapest, Holnap Kiadó, 2007. Since only a few of his designs were realized, his books published about the art of székely villages, illustrated by his own drawings, as well as his drawings appearing in architectural journals such as the Der Architekt and The Studio had a significant role in promoting a national style of romanticism. 32 Quoted from: Akos Moravanszky: Építészet... 1998, 217-218. 33 Balázs Pál: Kós Károly, Budapest, Akadémiai Kiadó, 1971, 21. Gyöngyi Erdei: A mintaadó polgármester. Bárczy István beruházási programja, Budapesti Negyed, No.3, 1995, http://epa.oszk.hu/00000/00003/00008/erdei.html (2017.04.29.)
