Masters of Architecture Vol. 12

Text: György Szegő

This imposing and representative volume is the twelfth title in the large-scale enterprise and mission of the publishing company written by János Gerle, the editor of the whole series. This time the task set was to assess the significance and give a reasonable evaluation of the oeuvres of two architects more difficult and questionable to approach if compared to the other volumes of the series published so far.
The critical approach is justified by the lack of data on the one hand, and the fact that at the climax of their cooperation as a tandem of architects Giergl gave up on architecture. On the other hand it is also exciting because the kind of tension between the joint application of ornamentation and new structures typical of their careers is being felt again nowadays. We can keep track of the stages of a series of experiments succesfully fusing the late-eclecticism of the court and European Art Nouveau, whilst we can also witness a sensitivity at work hardly distinguishable from this as they apply innovative structural solutions of their age: they had a preference for contemporary technical-technological innovations (see the reinforced concrete constructions applied in co-operation with Szilárd Zielinski) all the time, preferring an architecture of historicising spirit built for „eterniy” at the end of a golden age when styles replaced one another in quick succession.

Az Urikány-Zsilvölgyi Magyar Kőszénbánya Rt. országos kiállítási pavilonja, 1896