After completing his studies at the Wood Industry Technical School of Újpest, Mihály Hefkó took up employment at the Ferencvárosi Épületasztalos Ipari Vállalat (Architectural Joinery Industrial Company of Ferencváros). Admission to the product design office required comprehensive knowledge of the entire production process. He worked in three shifts, which made the regular practice and development of drawing and modelling – activities vital to him – almost impossible. In one of the drawing circles, his early graphic attempts and sculptural experiments were corrected by István B. Nagy.
By the time he was transferred to the design office, he had decided not to pursue a career in architectural joinery. The Néprajzi Múzeum (Museum of Ethnography) was nearby, and he visited it frequently. He enjoyed immersing himself in the beauty of the objects on display, whether an old chair or an African mask. When the position of head of the furniture restoration workshop became vacant, he was appointed to the post, acting simultaneously as workshop leader and restorer. Several of the young people working there were preparing for the entrance examinations to the Iparművészeti Főiskola (Hungarian College of Applied Arts), and it was through them that he found the motivation to continue his studies.
He was admitted to the college on his second attempt and graduated as a certified architectural designer. His master was István Németh. After completing his studies at the Hungarian College of Applied Arts, he worked together with an industrial designer colleague on object design and execution. Although this field proved interesting and instructive, it did not allow him to fulfil his ambitions. He therefore decided that interior architecture would be the appropriate direction for him. He approached his former master, István Németh, who invited him to join the Interior Architecture Studio No. 1, which he headed at the Középülettervező Vállalat (Public Building Design Company). This marked the beginning of Hefkó’s true artistic fulfilment, as he was surrounded by architects such as Lajos Zalaváry, Csaba Csontos, Péter Hegedűs, László Laczkovics, György Péchy, Ferenc Annus and Endre Tornai. He was soon entrusted with more demanding tasks. His first major defining project was the Atrium Hyatt Hotel, the first atrium hotel in Hungary. The five-star hotel was realised with Austrian participation. During construction, Hefkó worked alongside István Németh as a trainee. At this point, the boundaries between architecture and interior architecture became blurred. He produced models of the future building’s façade; the design of the then highly unusual free-running lifts is also associated with his name, and he was likewise involved in the design of the fountain planned for the atrium courtyard.
The hotel was built together with the MALÉV (MALÉV Hungarian Airlines) offices. The MALÉV office building, as well as the ticket office located on the ground floor, constituted Hefkó’s specific responsibility. For this work he received his first professional award in 1982, the Badge of Merit for Outstanding Work awarded by the Council of Ministers of the Hungarian People’s Republic. He recalls this period with great gratitude, as it meant a great deal to him that, as a young interior architect, his career was supported by senior masters through working alongside them.
At the Public Building Design Company he was able to work extensively and participate in competitions. His work filled his life, and he remained with the state-owned company until 1987. He often worked on several buildings in parallel, drawing fresh ideas from one project for another, while turning to a third as a form of creative rest. This mode of working remains close to him even today.
The design of Club Tihany had occupied several designers for years in the form of various competitions, all of which ultimately failed. Later, Hefkó began working on the project together with architect Péter Hegedűs, and, fortunately, a contract was concluded not long afterwards. Once again, the contractors were not Hungarian but Danish and Austrian. Both the architectural and interior architectural plans, however, were prepared at the Public Building Design Company. In the 1980s, access to materials in Hungary was severely limited, but thanks to the Danish partners it became possible to procure foreign materials, constrained only by financial limits. At that time, it was still standard practice that a certain percentage of the construction budget had to be allocated to works of fine art. This was realised at Club Tihany: artworks were placed on those surfaces that are particularly prominent in such interiors. Although the building has since been remodelled several times, much of the original furnishing remains intact to this day. Construction lasted two years. Hefkó followed the entire process closely, as he believes that design necessarily includes on-site supervision during execution. Only in this way, he argues, can a designer be fully satisfied with the finished work. The investment of energy paid off here as well: in 1987, his work at Club Tihany was awarded the Pro Architectura Prize.
In the years preceding the change of regime, opportunities for independent work had already begun to emerge. Hefkó left the Public Building Design Company in 1987. He initially founded a creative collective and, when legislation made it possible, established a limited partnership under the name Művészeti Instrukció [meaning ‘Artistic Instruction’] in 1989, with its studio located at Bécsi kapu tér [Vienna Gate Square in Budapest].
He met architect András Zsuffa during a modelling assignment, and a strong professional relationship developed between them. They worked together on the interior design of the Merkantil Bank offices, located on the ground floor of a listed historic building at 24 József Attila Street. Here they were required to create a complete interior. In the case of a listed building, they had to find a balance between elements that could be altered and those that could not. They therefore drew inspiration from the history of the building itself, preserving its two-hundred-year-old tradition. From the various stylistic layers already present, they incorporated characteristic forms and elements. By roofing over the ground-floor courtyard, an atrium was created, which became the central, representative space of the Merkantil Bank. Much of the furnishing was also designed by Hefkó. Aluminium cast replicas of the courtyard’s characteristic cast-iron column reappear as candelabra serving as spatial lighting elements. At the door and window openings, a classical atmosphere emerges. For this work, he and András Zsuffa jointly received the Miklós Ybl Prize in 1991.
The reconstruction and expansion of the Fővárosi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár (Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library) began in 1998 with the design and on-site supervision of the Music Library building (Páffy Palace), in collaboration with architect Péter Hegedűs. The children’s library section was designed by Csaba Jakab. The so-called ‘dragon courtyard’ created in the open inner courtyard of the nineteenth-century building became emblematic, with its monumental dragon sculptures made of chamotte. The task was to renovate an outdated library and connect three buildings of different periods in order to create a modern central library that meets contemporary needs. The new library’s focal point was formed by roofing over the former inner courtyard of the listed Wenckheim Palace. This atrium houses the information desk and café, and provides access to the cloakroom and the main reading area. A significant portion of the library’s furnishings was produced according to custom designs. Thanks to the architects’ conscientious work, the old furniture was preserved as well. Detailed inventories were compiled – running to several volumes – of the listed or listing-worthy furniture and lighting fixtures belonging to the library. Each item was accompanied by at least half a page of descriptive text, providing guidance for future use. These documents later proved invaluable to restorers during refurbishment. All of this, however, required that Hefkó, trusting his intuition, paid a visit to the construction site one day, where he discovered that these furnishings were about to be removed. Thanks to his intervention, they remained in place and continue to be used by library visitors to this day. In the case of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library, the perennial question that troubles architects and interior architects alike once again arises: how far can transformation go? Where lies the delicate balance at which the original character can be retained, while the insertion of something new and unique enriches rather than disrupts the building’s identity?
Béla Borvendég wrote the following about the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library: “Architecture exceeds mere functionality. What distinguishes it is an added quality – a radiance that allows the built environment to speak beyond its practical purpose. A quality unique to a carefully composed built environment. A visual experience that – if the observer has eyes and heart for it – touches their better self. A harmony of interior spaces that unfolds from the balanced tension between forms and the thoughts and emotions encoded within them. Is such a thing still possible today? The Központi Szabó Ervin Könyvtár (Central Ervin Szabó Library) in Budapest is surely such a place… Perhaps because of its strikingly rich polyphony. In it, inherited values are present and elevated, yet without any of today’s customary nostalgic whining. At the same time, it honestly embraces the present, and even the foreseeable future. Not primarily by offering suitable space for today’s and tomorrow’s gadgets of information technology, but by focusing its attention on the human being who will use this environment. In the inseparability of yesterday, today and the emerging tomorrow, it presents directly experienceable Hungarian and European interests that are equal in value to the message of the most precious books taken from the shelf, yet are anchored neither in language nor in words.” (Béla Borvendég: A hercegi tollfosztás, az arrogancia, avagy: merre van az arra [lit. The Loss of Princely Feathers, Arrogance – or: Where Is the Way Forward?], 27 December 2001, epiteszforum.hu)
The profession once again acknowledged Hefkó’s talent. In 2002 he received the Europa Nostra Award for his work on the reconstruction of the Metropolitan Ervin Szabó Library.
In the early 2000s, he was responsible for the design and on-site supervision of Phases I–II of the reconstruction of the listed Himer–Font–Caraffa building complex in Székesfehérvár. Here too, he sought to create harmony between old and new. Numerous custom-designed objects were incorporated into the building, as the spaces themselves were highly determinant. In this project, he also succeeded in ensuring that works of fine art by local artists were installed on the walls, selected through open calls. Hefkó carried out only the first phase of the reconstruction, yet his work was recognised by the profession with the ICOMOS Award in 2008.
In 2009 he began teaching in the Environment Culture programme of the Institute of Applied Arts at Harsányi János Főiskola (Harsányi János College). In 2010 he took on a teaching role in the Environment Culture and Interior Architecture programmes of the Institute of Applied Arts at the Budapesti Kommunikációs és Üzleti Főiskola (Budapest College of Communication and Business), where he remains active to this day. (Since 2016, the institution has been known as Budapest Metropolitan University.) Every year in Dunaszentmiklós, he and his interior architect colleague János Bánáti jointly lead professional practice for students at an artists’ colony established on Bánáti’s initiative. Within this framework, the village community house was realised based on student designs.
For Mihály Hefkó, the task itself determines the mode of expression; it is the given building that offers direction and guidance. He considers it essential to emotionally connect with the building, regardless of whether it is a new design or an existing structure. He strives for the building to absorb everything he thinks about it. Some architects do not enjoy working with him, as he notices and points out potential errors – not with harmful intent, but precisely because, if something can be improved, why should it not be? He believes that architects and interior architects do not work against one another, but alongside each other. This is why collaborations are most effective when they begin at the very outset of the process. Nevertheless, he prefers to carry out interior architectural work on his own, as he can wholeheartedly stand behind what he has created from the first stroke of the pen to the final touch.
“I was given the opportunity by my parents – whom I remember with eternal gratitude – to realise my dreams. From my masters at the Hungarian College of Applied Arts – György Jánossy, Imre Makovecz, Dr Frigyes Pogány, Dr Ferenc Vámossy, István Németh, to name just a few – I learned all the skills and devotion of the chosen artistic field and profession: the importance of flawless execution in every task, and unconditional respect for one another. I learned to stand up for what I believe to be right, or for the truth of others, through compromise but without surrender. I can only hope that over the course of my life so far, I have managed to meet both expectations and my own standards.” (Mihály Hefkó)
[2016]