Lifts towards the sky, builds from the earth...
Mihály Rudolf, DLA (Doctor of Liberal Arts) architect, has been engaged for four decades in work that both preserves and creates value, reviving our architectural heritage from the scale of the city down to the level of interior design detailing. His spatial composition exemplifies the transformation and transmutation of material, and, amid the spiritual impoverishment and hollow grandiloquence of our time, he provides a home for communities in a way that, through multilayered and nuanced spatial structures and their emphatically crafted details, enables a renewed activation of these communities’ place within Creation, reconnecting them with the living forces of their origins.
Born on 26 June 1955 in Szekszárd, Mihály Rudolf graduated from the Nagy Lajos Secondary School in Pécs, where he was greatly influenced by the city's historical past. He continued his studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Budapest University of Technology and graduated in 1979. He was a distinctive and influential figure at Bercsényi Student Hostel, where he organised film screenings, dance halls and concerts, and later served as editor-in-chief of the architectural journal Bercsényi 28-30.
As a postgraduate student, Miskolc was his home: he lived at the Collective House, a unique experimental building designed by Csaba Bodonyi. Here, too, he continued/assumed a community-building role as an organiser of travelogues with slide shows and musical events. The intellectual microclimate of the young community of 30 architects evolved and matured, and their work attracted international attention. Alongside the workshops of György Csete and Imre Makovecz, the Miskolci Építész Műhely (Miskolc Architectural Workshop) became an emblematic and defining point of recent Hungarian architecture. “The Miskolc Workshop was essentially the Hungarian forerunner of critical regionalism, it was contextualist, space-creating, humanistic and organic in its approach to settlement planning, but with a free, individual interpretation of all these” [1]. As a result of this way of thinking, historically credible and intellectually honest developments were conceived, examined at the scale of the settlement, and thoughtfully articulated with sensitivity and a long-term perspective. Its intellectual leader/founder was Antal Plesz and his first-generation students were Csaba Bodonyi and István Ferencz. They were joined by Mihály Rudolf as a postgraduate student, who learned his architectural approach primarily from them. As a recent graduate, within the large-scale industrial machinery of ÉSZAKTERV (Északmagyarországi Tervező Vállalat, North Hungarian Design Company), he was often able to design finely crafted, small-scale houses. It was in this period that the ceremonial hall in the cemetery of Harsány, the town hall in Felsőzsolca, the parish of the Reformed Church in Hejőcsaba and the chapel in Gibárt were built, all with outstanding craftsmanship.
In 1984-85, as a postgraduate project, they worked on the Hadas district in Mezőkövesd, for which they were awarded first prize. The result was achieved through their unique working method, the study-understanding-preservation of the traditional ‘kétbeltelkes’ (dual inner-plot) settlement structure, and following that they prepared the Town Planning Scheme of Mezőkövesd as a large-scale corporate project. It was this planning project, the experience of inspecting every site and the novel tasks that laid the foundations for the establishment of the independent architectural design office in 1990. The HADAS ÉPÍTÉSZIRODA FRANCIA-MAGYAR Kft. ( Hadas Architectural Office) was a "four-man team", consisting of Mihály Rudolf, István Bede, Zoltán Horváth (Figura) and László Szőke. While designing smaller individual projects, they regularly participated in design competitions, and in 1994 the design of the Dominican Monastery on Margaret Island and in 1995 phase 1 and 2 of the detailed development plan of the Miskolc city centre was completed.
After seven years, the four of them went their separate ways, so in 1996, Mihály Rudolf started his own independent architect's office under the name of HADAS MŰTEREM Kft [2], where he constantly took on young colleagues and students. He became involved in university education, and between 2002 and 2008 he became a member of the Kós Károly Association, employing also the fresh graduates of the Vándoriskola (Wandering School) in his studio. In his office, as the fourth generation of the Miskolc Architectural Workshop, he continues to set many young architects on their professional path, cultivating the sensitivity of their outlook towards historically successive periods organically layered upon one another, towards the investigation of the spirit of place, and offering an example of the affectionate re-creation of tradition and of the importance of carefully worked-out detail. In Égerszög (Abaúj-, Gömör County), he and his wife have created an artists' colony by renovating and reviving an old home: they also run it as a community-building venue, hosting summer camps and small conferences throughout the year.
Between 2003 and 2010 he was the chief architect of the town of Felsőzsolca, his final task was the reconstruction after a flood, for which he received several awards and distinctions. Since 2015, he has been the Chief Architect of the town of Tokaj, where he has taken on the task of organically continuing Csaba Bodonyi's 25 years of work. In his bid to win the title of European Capital of Culture 2023, he is currently dreaming up old-new developments at 12 sites in Tokaj, including the construction of Imre Makovecz's 1992 Seville Expo building at the confluence of the Bodrog and Tisza rivers, next to the water castle, the partial reconstruction of which has also been proposed. His broad vision is also reflected in his ambition to mobilise the entire wine region.
An increasing number of his works are connected to the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region, a World Heritage site, and he has been present in Sárospatak since 2002. As a member of the Tokaj-Hegyalja World Heritage Design Review Board, he is the Chief Architect responsible for the municipalities of Tokaj, Tarcal and Mezőzombor, which is not a municipal appointment, but the substantive work of a professional panel [3] set up by the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Government Office.
He became a member of the Board of the Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County Chamber of Architects, then its President in 2005, and has been continuously re-elected since then. His presence has revitalised the local organisation of the Chamber, and he has made the Kós House in Miskolc its headquarters, where he has initiated regular Chamber exhibitions and lectures by distinguished guests, mobilising the members in the county and strengthening professional (and intergenerational) relations.
In 2001 he was awarded the Miskolc City Prize of Excellence, in 2002 the Creative Prize, in 2003 the Urban Design Prize, and in 2004 the Ybl Architectural Award. His doctoral defence was in 2007 in Pécs. A member of the Hungarian Academy of Arts since 2012, he gave his inaugural lecture in 2015 on architecture understood as an ancient tectonic order grounded in a divine quality in the reconstruction of the Diósgyőr and Füzér castles and the development plan of the Castle Quarter in Sárospatak. In 2016, he received the Pro Architectura Prize. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Monuments Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Arts.
A description of his professional credo in the light of his plans and completed works:
Miskolc Toronyalja, own house, 1990-1997
On a winding street on the north side of the Avas hill, next to the listed Reformed church and cemetery, he began renovating an old house as his own home, adding a rear entrance corss-volume and a stately residential tower to create a small-town character rich in fine detail. Over the years, the building complex has been enriched with layers of craftsmanship: the roof's finial, the brackets of the tin downpipe, the façade's painted secco and painted window and door surrounds and wooden shutters. Each of these represent a kind of spontaneous, honest architecture, which, at the same time is consistently faithful to its own style, executed with artistic refinement. In the interiors, every detail has been shaped, dressed and utilised in a similarly imaginative way, in many stages, according to the needs of a family with six children.
Miskolc-Tetemvár, Reconstruction of the Deszkatemplom (Wooden Church), 1998-2000
The Reformed church, built in 1937 according to plans by Bálint Szeghalmy, was ruined by an act of arson. Professionals came together to create the architectural (Műépítész Kft.) and interior design (Hadas Műterem Kft.) plans for the reconstruction. Under the direction of Mihály Rudolf, the furniture installed at the reconstruction once again rendered the liturgical space centrally organised and two new choirs were added to the existing one. Drawing on the imprints of sawn and notched patterns preserved on the charred fragments of wood, he re-envisioned in timber the lace-like, embroidered sacred space, together with the leafy wrought-iron fittings of the forged hoops, the ceiling’s bespoke light fixtures, and the stained-glass windows that confer dignity and rank.
Miskolc, Nyilas Misi House, Children and Youth Mission Centre of the Reformed Church, reconstruction of the former Oroszlánossy-Tőrös House, 2003-2011 (Co-designer: István Bede)
In one of the oldest streets of Miskolc, next to the Reformed Church, stands a prosperous building restored by the Miskolc Downtown Reformed Congregation according to the plans of architect Mihály Rudolf. The plastic articulation of the street-facing ground-floor façade was reinstated, after which two new upper storeys were added, accommodating a representative assembly hall and attic guest rooms. The resulting street-front surface was enriched with architectural ceramics and secco decorations depicting the Sun, the Moon, the Tree of Life, and Bible verses. Between the wrought-iron sign bracket and flag holder, a powerfully articulated oak gateway leads into an entrance forecourt clad in timber blocks, followed by further wall inscriptions, which, through their evocation of the painted interior of the Reformed Church at Csaroda, aid orientation within the building. With its wall-walk, open-air pulpit, and a covered stage, the building has since become an important venue for the cultural life of the city.
The architect treats the buildings of these bygone historical eras as his own, restoring their spatial relationships and then lovingly growing them, dressing them up with intricate details to restore their prestige. Károly Kós's craftsman's approach to quality is present in his work. Other arts and works of decorative craftsmanship are constant companions to his buildings; together with them he conceives and articulates his designs: this is a world of block-carved reliefs, murals, inscriptions, architectural sculptures and sculptures. This is not a self-serving aestheticism, but a conscious process of action, an architectural endeavour that seeks to restore an age in which architecture and life still possessed a body of knowledge derived from sacred cosmology. To re-establish the position of the creature within Creation is the guiding principle.
Miskolc, Historical Avas reconstruction, 2002-2006 (Co-designer: László Szőke)
More than 900 cellar and wine-house buildings stand in charming disarray in the winding little alleys above the historic Reformed church and cemetery on the steep northern slope, where finds dating back seventy thousand years attest to the presence of Palaeolithic humans. Its regulation plan was prepared by HADAS ÉPÍTÉSZ Kft. with extensive field work and comprehensive survey documentation. Their settlement planning methodology started from an understanding of the area's history, then they reinterpreted it by restoring the former spatial vectors and incorporating new features to create an awareness of the role of the district. The subtle layered solutions of site-by-site regulation reinforce the unique character.
Together with town planner László Szőke, he worked on town planning works, like the Miskolc-Diósgyőr Várkörnyék (Castle District) development plan tender in 2004. In the design proposals for the historic core area, the royal manor house surrounded by moats, with its former bridges and gates, has been restored, together with the vital, service functions: the Lovagi Tornák Tere (Square of Knightly Tournaments) [4], market square, street of crafts, mill race, fish pond, etc. The traffic circulation of the historic Castle District has been reinterpreted, thus concealing the parking spaces for tourists in smaller units.
Sárospatak, St. Elisabeth House, Roman Catholic Church Collection and Library, 2002-2007 (Co-designer: Ágnes Kovács)
Under the direction of Antal Kuklay, art historian, Roman Catholic priest and canon, the former Catholic school building, built in 1906, was renovated and transformed so that the ecclesiastical treasures (books, liturgical objects, carved blocks) collected during his life's work could find a permanent home in the building reclaimed from nationalisation. In the immediate vicinity of the medieval Rotunda and the present Basilica, 5-6 metres below the courtyard of this Bodrog-fronted site, are most probably the remains of the former royal (wooden) palace where Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of Andrew II, was born in 1207. On this prestigious site, Mihály Rudolf created a series of new event spaces: a library, museum shop and exhibition space on the ground floor, a conference room and visible storage area on the first floor, a lapidarium in the basement and courtyard, a stage and auditorium in the riverside terraced garden, redesigned and decorated with St Elizabeth's roses.
Just as the runic inscription on the mullion of the window above the main entrance proclaims Saint Elizabeth’s appeal, “Make people happy!”, so too the entire surface of the building was handcrafted, following size-consistent pattern templates. The principal façade features secco decoration drawing on the motif repertoire of the enamel images of the Holy Crown; historic–new windows articulated by characteristic wrought-iron grilles and newly developed plaster architecture; and a stairwell entrance hall with a timber-block floor, ornamental murals, bespoke glass lamps by Orsolya Székely, and a wrought-iron stair balustrade. The corridor walls are further articulated by painted room inscriptions. The interior design is defined primarily by oak furniture, both in the offices and in the communal reception spaces, enriched with artistic enamel inlays and bespoke carved detailing.
Where the use of space is restored, it helps the community to find its own operational forces and emphases. In Ózd, the Altiszti és Munkás Olvasó Egylet Színháza (Theatre of the Reading Circle of Non-Commissioned Officers and Workers), in Felsőzsolca the Bárczay Castle, and in Sárospatak the St. Elisabeth House in the Castle District were renovated under the direction of architect Mihály Rudolf. All of them became important drivers and arenas of community life.
University of Miskolc, 400-seat lecture hall, 2003
After his mentor, István Ferencz, Mihály Rudolf was also commissioned by the university to create a new grand lecture hall, to be inserted into the courtyard between the two building wings originally designed by István Janáky Sr.
Archaic, timeless massing, ageless interior design, the use of noble materials, restrained movements, together lend the result a sense of authority and calm. Through flavours and details drawn from Selmecbánya and Sopron, the work also pays tribute to the architect’s ancestors, who were trained as mining engineers in those traditions.
Miskolc-Tapolca, Kohányi villa, 2005 (Co-designer: Endre Szamosi, Interior designer: Lajos Tompos)
On a steep corner plot in a Mediterranean valley, a free-standing building embedded into the terrain was built for a young client. An ancient castle, a contemporary stronghold: through its siting it turns towards the Bronze Age hillside, thereby assuming a continuity with it. This is not a theatrical gesture, but an inner recognition of the rapidly eroding presence of the old world, and a conscious intervention aimed at halting that process. With richly articulated massing, distinguished use of materials and light-toned surfaces, a relaxed manor house infused with a sense of cheerfulness has emerged – a balance between the genius of North and South. The interplay of brick and stone masonry, their layered superimposition, and the arrhythmia of the openings constitute the most emphatic elements of the façade composition, bearing witness to a work of confident good spirits. Here too, conscientious design direction and the collaborative skill of accomplished craftsmen have come together felicitously with a discerning and committed client.
Sárospatak, Development of the Sárospatak Castle District, 2008 (Co-designer: László Szőke)
Sárospatak was the royal seat of the queen since the time of Princess Anastasia of Kiev, wife of Andrew I. At the intersection of the medieval main street and the former ford (now a road bridge), the centre of the settlement, and later the inner and outer castles, were built on a rocky, strongly defensible point. This Castle District (also known as Szentnegyed, Holy Quarter) is currently home to a mere 13 people and is often completely deserted outside the tourist season. The objective of the development plan was to reinstate the alignment of the medieval main street, the former spindle-shaped square (and with it the circumambulatory accessibility of the Castle Church), and to generate a densification of the building fabric through the reconstructed Rotunda, the buildings accommodating pilgrims, and small-town-scale, two-storey craft workshops serving tourism, incorporating an upper residential level and a small private courtyard.
In addition to the restriction of vehicular traffic, new internal connecting roads and gateway courtyards have been created to revive pedestrian traffic, and a footbridge over the southern moat helps connect the Hustác district to the city centre. For destination traffic, the plan provides parking outside the castle walls, from the south (existing) and from the north; the latter would be located in the large park of the new pilgrims’ hostel adjacent to the listed Vártemplom (Castle Church or Basilica), together with the necessary service buildings. Its realisation was initiated through such rational interventions as the revision of the traffic regime for heavy goods vehicles arriving from the bridge, by cutting through two large ninety-degree bends, thereby freeing up the immediate surroundings of the Castle Church. In doing so, new organising axes indispensable to the development of the historic town centre would be inscribed into the fabric of the settlement.
Sárospatak, Makovecz Imre Square, 2010-2013 (Co-designer: Ágnes Kovács, Garden designer: László Simon)
Imre Makovecz’s U-shaped organic cultural building, inaugurated in 1983, was constructed in axial symmetry opposite the U-shaped Teacher Training College completed in 1912 by Jenő Kismarty-Lechner and László Varga, designed in the Upper Hungarian crenellated style. The courtyards of these two distinguished buildings were divided by the main access road leading to the main street, the college fence, and a broad row of poplar trees. Within the framework of a public-space development programme, Mihály Rudolf, together with his collaborators, opened up and connected the two courtyards, bringing into balance in both the proportions of green areas and paved surfaces. While in the courtyard of Művelődés Háza (House of Culture) the bleak, basin-like space encircled by a continuous flight of steps, following Makovecz’s original sketches, was replaced by a mound-like earth formation planted with moisture-emitting vegetation, in the college garden the unpaved paths were substituted with constructed walkways and small squares. In this way, in the absence of a hall, the garden became a more dignified venue for school events.
The pedestrian surfaces are paved with flame-textured granite setts, their installed height serving the restoration of spatial connections and level differences within the squares. The paving patterns projected onto the base planes of the façades enclosing the spaces followed the experimental approaches to the ‘urban main square’ developed by Michelangelo Rocca, as exemplified by his proposal for the Kraków Main Square design competition in 1996 [6]. In the courtyard of the House of Culture, the eyebrow motif drawn by Makovecz is cast onto the paving in the form of various Hungarian moustache patterns, while in the courtyard of the Comenius Teacher Training College the façade shadow images move in accordance with the course of the sun.
The location of the pair of the sculptures by László Péterfy standing in front of the House of Culture was set at the Teacher Training College building. Pál Pátzay’s bust of Csokonai was placed at a more dignified and sunlit site within the newly articulated square, in the forecourt of the main entrance. Around Géza Samu’s Naposzlop (Sun column), bespoke carpentered benches were installed, enriched with finely carved ornamentation and incised marks.In the inner courtyards of the two institutions, wooden candelabra set on rough-stone plinths were created, fitted with bespoke metal lamp brackets. The two supports of the Harangjátékok háza (House of Carillons) function as a memento, as this has been developed from the former pedestrian gate of the fence. Students were provided with sunlit and shaded resting gardens, and the architect paid tribute to Saint Elizabeth with adjacent rose gardens.
Mihály Rudolf has a vision, a vision not only of houses, but also of people and human communities. He inspires communities, creates occasions, stirs their dormant or stale environment: life springs up around him with complete naturalness, governed by an internal self-regulating system.
Sárospatak-Várnegyed (Castle District), Renovation of the Szeplőtelen Fogantatás Bazilika (Basilica of Immaculate Conception), 2011-2014 (Co-designer: Eszter Szélné Mercz)
His knowledge and understanding of historical periods and the organic continuation of their spirit can be traced in his work. He prepares the proposed interventions with careful consideration of historical and urban planning aspects, as he did in the case of the exterior renovation of the Castle Church (Basilica) in Sárospatak, where he presented and discussed the project in several monument design evaluations and in a preliminary planning review held before the Archbishop.
Adjacent to the building, the ruins of Sárospatak’s ‘point of origin’, the circular chapel (Rotunda), are still visible today. Built beside it as a parish church and subsequently rebuilt in several phases, the Gothic Castle Church later took shape. Under the direction of Károly Ferenczy, a reconstruction was carried out in the 1960s, which has since been regarded as a recognised example of monument restoration. The current renovation, however, substantially revises that earlier intervention, both formally and in its use of materials. The gabled roofing of the southern oratory, incorporating a carillon function, has been completed, the slate roof covering has been replaced with red copper sheeting, the wired-glass window of the oratory has been substituted with artistic glass surfaces, and the stone façades have undergone restoration. According to the subsequent design phase, the sacristy will be relocated to the vicinity of the sanctuary, and its existing access, Károly Ferenczy’s angular, exposed concrete slab construction, will be rebuilt and provided with a pitched roof. Behind it, an accessible lift will be installed.
Because Mihály Rudolf is familiar with, respects, and consciously and consistently references notable figures of history and culture, as well as great predecessors of the architectural profession, he is not daunted by the task of engaging with a listed building following a renowned architect. On the contrary, he approaches the intellectual framework of earlier designers with objectivity, in order, for example, to continue their ideas after the passage of fifty years in a contemporary architectural language, while also honouring the spirit of the original church builders. He moves with confidence within the design and renewal of sacred spaces, and is currently preparing the interior restoration of the Basilica, including the plans for the liturgical space. This work is carried out through consistent and persistent effort, often in the face of resistance within the field of heritage protection.
Füzér, Reconstruction of the Upper Castle, 2012-2015 (Co-designers: Zoltán Lipták, Katalin Molnár)
Mihály Rudolf works constantly and tirelessly to put the broken pieces back together again, just as he beautifully fits the collapsed Gothic vault ribs of the Upper Castle Chapel in Füzér, and then has the pattern of the starry sky painted on the finished star vault.
On the Castle Hill of Füzér, a partial conceptual reconstruction was carried out under his professional direction, involving a design, expert, and artistic team of thirty-four participants, drawing on archival research and material evidence from on-site archaeological findings. The most decisive intervention consisted of the heightening of the ruined rubble-stone walls and the construction of steep pitched roofs, thereby re-creating the historic spatial configurations, which earlier plans by Péter Oltai had only been able to realise in part. Throughout the project, the guiding principle of monument conservation remains clear, namely that the historic and newly added building elements should remain distinguishable. Mihály Rudolf achieves this distinction primarily not through material choice or colour palette, but through textures, the articulation of junctions, and differing construction techniques employed in the execution of the structures.
The consistent perseverance of the town’s mayor, Jenő Horváth, was the principal driving force behind the intention to realise a reconstruction with steep pitched roofs, the selection of the designer, and the subsequent securing of grant funding. The national heritage-conservation practice governing castle restorations surrounds the rebuilding of ruins with almost prohibitive conditions; in this settlement, however, it proved possible not only to complete the Upper Castle but also to open the Lower Castle in 2016, and moreover to prepare a feasibility study for the reconstruction of the lowest level, the former Palánkvár (Palisade Castle). In recognition of its efforts towards the renewal of Füzér Castle, the municipality of Füzér received the Pro Architectura Prize in the Client category in the same year.
In work of such magnitude, it is the constraints imposed by funding deadlines and heritage compliance that place the greatest pressure on the architect; Mihály Rudolf, however, equips both the plans and the design team through his commitment, capacity for work, strength of will, responsible public-minded outlook, professional and historical knowledge, and exceptional imaginative power.
The most distinguished space is the chapel, which our ancestors also treated as the sacred centre of the castle, and which is positioned projecting outward from the encircling castle walls. Under the direction of Péter Oltai it was initially given a hipped steep roof; however, during the most recent phase of construction, archaeological examination of the rubble outside the chapel walls revealed the original gable apex finial. Following the acquisition of the necessary permits, the roof structure was therefore dismantled and rebuilt with a gabled form of more authoritative appearance. The sacred interior is characterised by the most refined level of detailing, including carved stonework, stained-glass windows, bespoke wrought-iron light fittings, painted ornamentation, incised and carved inscriptions, and custom-designed, high-quality liturgical furnishings.
Mihály Rudolf, DLA architect, is a leading figure and distinctive representative of Hungarian regionalism, with a consistent and principled professional career. Through devoted work of high quality, and through an organic attachment to tradition, he continues the intellectual legacy of a world conceived and once flourishing in the past, now worn by time, and in doing so he carries forward the act of Creation itself.
[2017]
[1] Speech by architect Csaba Bodonyi at the inaugural lecture of Mihály Rudolf, held at the Hungarian Academy of Arts on 9 January 2015.
[2] Today it is known as HADAS ÉPÍTÉSZ Mérnöki és Művészeti Kft.
[3] The members of which are Csaba Bodonyi DLA, Csaba Olajos, György Radványi DLA, Mihály Rudolf DLA, Ferenc Salamin DLA, and the young Zoltán Bereczki, Péter Dobos, Gábor Erhardt, Tamás Fábián Rigó and Ágnes Kovács.
[4] It was completed in 2012, based on designs developed jointly with architect Endre Szamosi.
[5] A design consultation was held at the office of Imre Makovecz, and with his supportive approval the programme entered its phase of design development.
[6] Mihály Rudolf has been an active participant in international and national competitions in Peru, Rome, Krakow, Tokyo, etc.