Bertalan Á Rka Y , Sándor Fara G Ó , Józse F

18 Bertalan Árkay, Sándor Faragó, József Fischer, Károly Heysa, Pál Ligeti, Farkas Molnár, Móric Pogány, Gábor Preisich and Mihály Vadász, Apartment Houses of the National Social Insurance Institute, Budapest, Hungary, 1934–1935. © Hungarian Museum of Architecture and Monument Protection Documentation Center – HMA, Olga Máté, 1935. ESSAYS Communicating “space and form”: The history and impact of the journal Tér és Forma as the Hungarian pipeline of Modernism BY PÁL RITOÓK AND ÁGNES ANNA SEBESTYÉN In the interwar era, architectural journals were at the forefront of professional attention and had the power to disseminate the Modern Movement in architecture globally. The Hungarian journal Tér és Forma (1928– 1948) took the lead to introduce international modern architecture to the Hungarian public, while continually reporting on the newest building projects in interwar Hungary. Virgil Bierbauer, the periodical’s long-time editor (1928–1942), presented the broad panorama of contemporary architecture and his followers from 1943 intended to continue his legacy even in wartime. The impact of the periodical did not halt at its cessa- tion in 1948 but, directly as well as indirectly, continued to define 20th century architectural historiography in Hungary. 59 – 2018/2 Introduction journal took an important step in 1926, which proved to The dissemination of the Modern Movement in architecture be a milestone concerning the distribution of principles of was primarily fostered by publications as major communi- modern architecture in Hungary. cation tools of the interwar era. Architectural periodicals docomomo were key platforms where modern architecture started to From information to content: Virgil Bierbauer gain recognition and later, predominance. In Hungary, this as the editor of Tér és Forma impact was much needed as though in the early 1910s, the In 1926, the journal Vállalkozók Lapja launched an appendix first pre-modern buildings were constructed, these tenden- entitled Tér és Forma [space and form], which became cies stopped being continued for many years after the war. an independent monthly periodical in May 1928. The Most of the designers drew inspiration from historical styles, publishing company of Vállalkozók Lapja appointed the while some of them pursued a national style under the late architects Virgil Bierbauer (also known as Virgil Borbíró, Ödön Lechner’s influence. In pursuit of a national style, 1893–1956) and János Komor (1900–?) as the editors of the Essays a few architects found the source in the so-called crenel- newly established journal. As the letter of appointment lated Renaissance characteristic of the north-east of historic dated 6 April 1928 stated, the editors would bear full Hungary, while others in Eastern cultures, which were responsibility for the acquisition, the selection and the thought to be related to the Hungarians. Tendencies of editing of the publication material1. As the subsequent the Arts and Crafts also outlived WWI, but the typical style years followed, this declared editorial independence of the 1920s became Neo-Baroque, which perfectly echoed truly prevailed as, especially after the resignation of János the conservative political climate of this era. The first Komor in 1931, Virgil Bierbauer became the magazine’s examples of Art Deco, however, also emerged in Hungary, principal voice2. preceding Modernism. Virgil Bierbauer proved to be an excellent choice for an In the aftermath of WWI, architectural periodicals in editor even at the beginning, as by 1928 he had an estab- Hungary remained conservative and avant-garde art lished career as an architect and writer and he was also journals such as Lajos Kassák’s journal entitled MA [today] well-informed about contemporary architectural produc- antedated architectural ones. The journals likeMagyar tion due to his travels and his lively interest in current publi- Építőművészet [Hungarian architecture] (1907–1943) and cations. He was born into a family of architects and engi- Építő Ipar — Építő Művészet [building industry — architec- neers. His father, István Bierbauer, was the chief director of ture] (1914–1922, 1926–1932) represented a conservative engineering at the Royal Hungarian Post, while his maternal approach and the shortcomings of the architectural media grandfather, Gyula Seefehlner, was the head engineer of created a need for fresh air. The periodicalVállalkozók Lapja the building of two major bridges in Budapest at the end of [contractors’ journal] (1879–1944) regularly listed current the 19th century. Virgil Bierbauer obtained his architectural architectural projects while also publishing essays. This diploma at the Technical University of Munich 19 01 Virgil Bierbauer and his wife, Adrienne 02 Bohdan Lachert and Józef Szanajca, Apartment 03 József Fischer, Hoffmann Villa, Budapest, Bierbauer (née Graul). © Hungarian Museum House, Warsaw, Poland, 1928–1929. Hungary, 1933–1934. © Hungarian of Architecture and Monument Protection The cover of Tér és Forma, n. 7, 1930. Museum of Architecture and Monument Documentation Center – HMA, József Pécsi, Protection Documentation Center – HMA, late 1920s. Olga Máté, 1934. in 1915, where he was oriented towards the humanities Hungarian architecture, it is important to point out that while attending art history courses held by Heinrich the architect Farkas Molnár (1897–1945), who studied at 59 – 2018/2 Wölfflin among other notable scholars at the University the Bauhaus in Weimar between 1921 and 1925, obtained of Munich. He began his career as an architect after WWI, his architectural diploma in Budapest in 1928. He quickly obtaining his doctorate in 1920 and, in 1925, he started his became one of the major promoters of modern architec- long-term and career-defining project for the extension of ture in Hungary as architect, writer and activist. He was docomomo Kelenföld Power Plant in Budapest (1925–1934). Now it is initially involved in the production of the magazine Tér és a listed monument just like Virgil Bierbauer’s other major Forma as the designer of its cover for the first two years and project, Budaörs Airport (1936–1937), which he co-designed a contributor writing on topics such as the Bauhaus, social with László Králik. In 1927, he participated in the inter- housing and minimal existence. In addition to these defini- national congress of the Comité Permanent International des tive momentums, the turbulent years around 1930 created Architectes (CPIA) in the Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. an intellectual arena where there was a lot to explore, During his stay, he took the opportunity to visit notable communicate and interpret. building ensembles in the Netherlands such as the works In the last issue of 1928, the editors of Tér és Forma defined Essays of Willem Marinus Dudok and Jacobus Johannes Pieter the principal goal of the magazine articulating the necessity Oud3. He also traveled to neighboring Germany where of introducing the newest products of contemporary archi- he visited the Weißenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart (1927), which tecture to the Hungarian audience from a global perspec- was at that time at the forefront of professional attention. tive with the intention of promoting modern architecture Virgil Bierbauer published his experiences extensively and eliminating the isolation of Hungarian architecture5. in Hungarian art and architectural magazines, while his This ambition was successfully realized over the years, espe- encounters with both architects and buildings in foreign cially under Virgil Bierbauer’s editorship between 1928 and land proved to be deeply beneficial during his editorship at 1942. János Komor acted as the co-editor until the end of Tér és Forma. 1931 and from the January issue of 1932, Virgil Bierbauer was Tér és Forma as an independent architectural journal was the sole editor until 1942, when he was called to join the established in the pivotal year of 1928, when the Congrès Army. The architect József Fischer (1901–1995) and an edito- Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM) was founded rial board took over the journal, but Virgil Bierbauer’s name at the Chateau de la Sarraz in Switzerland by a group of was still indicated as one of the founders of the magazine European architects including Le Corbusier, André Lurçat, and he was even able to publish some of his essays. Soon Hannes Meyer, Gerrit Rietveld and Alberto Sartoris, among after, the magazine ceased to be published in 1948. others. Also in 1928, the founder Walter Gropius left the Virgil Bierbauer eagerly collected an immense amount of Bauhaus along with leading artists such as László Moholy- information that he – using his editorial filter – transformed Nagy and Marcel Breuer and started to promote his ideas into publication material. As the major content provider of and works outside of the school4. The year 1928 was also the magazine, he collected textual and visual information, hallmarked by the launch of other influential periodicals of made selections, created narratives, developed interpreta- the era such as the Italian Casabella and Domus. Regarding tions and defined messages. In addition to creating a huge 20 local impact, he also managed to introduce Hungarian The textual and the visual information were equally architecture to the international architectural community. significant for his editorial work and he eagerly collected His status as a cultural mediator was also reinforced by his photographic images to illustrate the journal. Unfortunately, activities as curator, lecturer

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