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Viktorija AladicPhD Architecture, Suboticaaviktorija@hotmail.com

Subotica: An Art Nouveau Gem

THE ROUTE

When in 1892, Si meon Leovi ccommissioned architects dn Lechnerand Gyula Prtos to design his house,none could foresee how much thearchitecture which had just began toblossom under Lechners influencewould flourish over the following

decades in Szabadka Suboticas Hungarian and official namewhile it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.

The Leovic mansion was not meant to be an expression ofnational identity nor was it designed in Art Nouveau style, but thematerials applied as well the shape of the dome clearly show thein uence of the new Budapest Museum of Applied Arts, on whichLechner had already been working. This mansion built for Leovicnear the Subotica railway station was indeed worthy of Lechnersartistic reputation and was seen as a symbol of the citys stunningsuccess and economic development.

Over the course of the next few years, a new generation ofarchitects built several impressive houses and palaces in historiciststyles. Chief among them was Ferenc Raichle, who had studied inBudapest and made study trips to Vienna, Berlin and other Europeancultural centres after earning his degree in 1891. In Subotica, hedesigned two neighbouring rental houses, which unfortunately were

demolished in 2010. One of theseevoked French Symbolism, and theother the Vienna Secession inparticular Olbrichs design for theentrance of the Secession building.

Thus Raichle introduced two major European architectural trends intothe city. Likewise in 1899, another prominent architect from Subotica,Titus Mackovic, w as hired to design a three-storey tenement buildingfor the architect Lajos Fazekas. While building a typical tenementbuilding, he nevertheless experimented with concrete in some parts andapplied decorative elements of the Vienna Secession to the faade.

A new generation ofarchitects completelytransformed the city

The Simeon Leovic house, designed by dn Lechner and Gyula Prtos in 1892, heralded Art Nouveau in Subotica

La Casa Simoen Leovic, dissenyada per dn Lechner i Gyula Prtos el 1892, va anunciar larribada del Modernisme a Subotica

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Main entrance to the Raichle Palace, the residence Ferenc Raichle built for himselfnear the new railway station

Entrada principal del Palau Raichle, la residncia que Ferenc Raichle es va construir propde la nova estaci de tren

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THE ROUTEproduced in the famous Zsolnay factory in Pcs (seecoupDefouet No. 3). This made the Raichle Palace strikingly different to thecustomary nineteenth-century grand buildings of Subotica.Unfortunately, the family could not enjoy this beautiful housefor many years as Raichle had to move to Szeged after goingbankrupt in 1908.

The Brothers Jzsef and Lszl Vg, two architects fromBudapest, were invited by Miksa Dmtr, a local physician, todesign his two-storey house at Synagogue Square. Miksas housecontained three apartments, several shops and a printing of ce,with his own apartment and medical practice on the ground oor.Many larger and more important buildings were built before andafter that, but none exerted such a powerful impact on single-storey building faades in Subotica as this one. Architects drewinspiration from the building and applied similar decorativeelements: square, glazed ceramic tiles, vertical lines of small bead-like motifs, hearts, owers and undulating surfaces.

Lipt Balogh designed another distinctive building for thegoldsmith Bernt Weiszberger in 1908. Though it had a typicalnineteenth-century oor plan, the unglazed reddish brownpyrogranite decorative elements (evoking the Subotica Synagogue)and the heart- and ower-shaped motifs derived from Hungarianfolk art gave the faade its distinctive appearance.

Not too far away, the building of the old Szabadka VidkiKereskedelmi Bank was designed in 1907 by Marcell Komor andDezso Jakab, the author s of the Synagogue, who along withHungarian folk art motifs added speci c decorations to the faadethat re ected marketing strategies: owl-shaped hearts symbolise thewisdom of customers in choosing this bank, while the squirrels andbeehives are both considered allegories for hard work and wealth.

Komor and Jakab left two more great works in Subotica: theTown Hall and the lakeside spa, both projects personally endorsed bythe dynamic Mayor Kroly Bir, who took of ce in 1902. The story ofthe rst construction is quite eventful, and again related to the rivalrywith the town of Szeged, which by then already boasted an imposingHall designed by dn Lechner. In 1906, Subotica announced acompetition for a new Town Hall building, to be designed in Baroquestyle in homage to the Austrian Empress Maria Theresa, who hadgiven the city its Free Royal Town status. The tender was won byKomor and Jakab, who nevertheless soon after managed to convince

the local Construction Council that a Baroque town hall would be farmore expensive than one in the new Hungarian Secession style. Thischange, however, did not go down well with the Ministry in Budapest,who did not approve the altered designs.

The two architects reacted ercely against this decision, andthe matter soon developed into a heated debate between defendersand detractors of the new Hungarian National Style, and indeedof the Hungarian national question altogether. Mayor Bir hadto recruit the help of allies, notably the Mayor of Marosvsrhely(today Trgu Mures, in Romania) where a new town hall, alsodesigned by the same architects in the Hungarian National Style,was already under construction. Finally, Komor and Jakab had theirway and their project was approved by Budapest in 1908.

During the same period, Komor and Jakab were alsocommissioned to design the development of the three mostsigni cant buildings of the spa and bathing beach complex at LakePalic, on the outskirt s of town: the Female Bathh ouse, the WaterTower and the Grand Terrace restaurant and ballroom. But herethey took a different approach to the Town Hall, and focused onthe structural use of timber, which they considered more suitablefor these type of buildings intended for leisure. This decisionalso contributed to the evolution of Hungarian Art Nouveau,going beyond applied decoration to create a new synthesis of thecontemporary functional comprehension of architecture with thematerials and forms used in traditional Transylvanian construction.

The last competition launched by the town was for a three-storey apartment building in 1913. Although Komor and Jakab alsosubmitted their design, the rst prize was awarded to Pl Vadsz.His design, the last representative Art Nouveau building erectedin Subotica, followed the model of Viennese Secession artists andarchitects like Klimt, Wagner, Olbrich and Hoffmann.

Detail of pyrogranite decoration on the faade of the Bernt Weiszberger house,designed by Lipt Balogh in 1908. The motifs are inspired by Hungarian folk art

Detall de decoraci en pirogranit a la faana de la Casa Bernt Weiszberger, obra de 1908de Lipt Balogh. Els motius estan inspirats en lart popular hongars

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motius amb forma de cor i de or extrets de lart popular hongarsconferien a la faana un aspecte singular.

No gaire lluny, Marcell Komor i Dezso Jakab, els autors de la Sinagoga,van dissenyar ledi ci de lantic banc Szabadka Vidki Kereskedelmi, on ams de motius de lart popular hongars van afegir a la faana elementsornamentals ms relacionats amb estratgies comercials: els cors ambforma de mussol simbolitzaven la saviesa dels dipositaris que triavenaquest banc, mentre que els esquirols i els ruscs es consideren tots dosallegories del treball i la riquesa.

Komor i Jakab van deixar encara dues grans obres ms a Subotica:lAjuntament i el balneari a la vora del llac, tots dos projectes recolzatspersonalment per lalcalde Kroly Bir, que va prendre possessi del crreclany 1902. La histria de la primera construcci s fora moguda, i novamentt a veure amb la rivalitat amb Szeged, que a aquelles alades ja presumiadun Ajuntament imponent dissenyat per dn Lechner. El 1906, Subotica vaanunciar un concurs per construir el nou Ajuntament, que havia de dissenyar-seen estil barroc com a homenatge a lemperadriu Maria Teresa dustria, quehavia atorgat a la ciutat lestatus de vila lliure i reial. El van guanyar Komori Jakab, que poc desprs van aconseguir convncer el Consell de Construccilocal que un edi ci barroc resultaria molt ms costs que un de lestil de lanova Secession hongaresa. Per aquest canvi no va ser ben rebut pel Ministeride Budapest, que no va aprovar les modi cacions del disseny.

Els dos arquitectes es van rebellar contra aquesta decisi i aviat esva produir un debat apassionat entre defensors i detractors del nou estilnacional hongars i, de fet, de la qesti nacional hongaresa en general.Lalcalde Bir va haver de buscar lajuda daliats, com ara lalcalde deMarosvsrhely (avui Trgu Mures , a Romania), on ja sestava construintun nou Ajuntament, dissenyat tamb pels mateixos arquitectes en lestilnacional hongars. Finalment, Komor i Jakab es van sortir amb la seva i el1908 Budapest va aprovar el projecte.

En aquells mateixos anys, Komor i Jakab van rebre lenc rrec de dissenyarels tres edi cis principals del complex balneari i de platges de bany del llacPalic, als afores de l a ciutat: el Ban y de les Dones, la Torre de lAigu a i la GranTerrassa, un restaurant amb sala de ball. Per aqu van prendre un enfocamentdiferent que en lAjuntament, i es van centrar en ls estructural de fusta,que consideraven ms adequada per a aquest tipus dedicis destinats a loci.Aix va suposar una nova contribuci a levoluci delModernisme hongars: la superaci de lornamentaciaplicada per crear una nova sntesi de la comprensifuncional contempornia de larquitectura amb elsmaterials i les formes utilitzades en la construccitradicional de Transsilvnia.

El 1913 la ciutat va plantejar encaraun darrer concurs per construir un edi cidhabitatges de tres plantes. Komor i

Jakab van presentar una proposta, perel primer premi sel va endur Pl Vadsz.El seu disseny per al que seria el darreredi ci modernista important construta Subotica, seguia el model dartistes iarquitectes de la Secession vienesa comKlimt, Wagner, Olbrich i Hoffmann.

Entrance to the spa complex on Lake Palic, including the water tower by Komorand Jakab, 1908

EntradaalsbanysdelllacPalic,ambla Torrede lAiguadissenyadaperKomori Jakabel1908

Corridor of Suboticas Town Hall, by Komor and Jakab

Vestbul de lAjuntament de Subotica, obra de Komor i Jakab

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