The specific stylistic features and motifs of the Budaörs and Csömör churches can be traced back to a biblical word. The House of the Sower was built in Csömör and the House of the Vintner in Budaörs.
At the beginning of our conversation, I asked the Budaörs if they had a motto, and they said their motto was a quote from the Gospel of John, “I am the vine, and my Father is the honorable … the vines.” After that, I began to savor this word, what it is about, and finally came to the conclusion that the ripe berries of the cultivated vine are the fruit of the soul itself. This is the reason why the chair cushions here are multi-colored, showing grape colors in different periods. The perforated exterior of the church is decorated with chrome ornaments, just like the elements that cover the ceiling of the churchyard, through which light shines. By the way, now I see that the vines are already starting to grow next to the church, because we imagined that the building, the back walls and everything possible would be covered with vines. The idea of the vine is also fortunate because Budaörs has a tradition of growing grapes.
Where does the name Vineyard House come from?
I do not know either. Because the entire process of creating the church has matured in society so much that it is not interesting who said it first. But it is good that it happened.
And the farmer’s house?
The Czömör community has already announced a tender for the design of the planter’s house. They chose this word because they wanted to be farmers. Because there was no Reformed complex in Ksumur for a long time. Reformed people began to move there in greater numbers after the regime change, and many of them come across the borders, from the Highlands, Subcarpathia, and Transylvania. Before announcing the giving, devotees invited us to talk about what we saw in their thoughts, and then we were among those who were asked for plans. In the end, it turns out that we have succeeded in formulating almost the same thing, or something very similar, as what they thought about the sower’s house, which could fulfill the evangelical command there, in Ksumur.
Do you often return to the churches where you worked?
Yes, I love coming back, it’s part of my life. After all, the planning and construction of the church spans over two or three years, in fact, the church in Chaumor was more than that, because we planned it in 2014 and it wasn’t delivered until 2020. Friendships were also born during these years, I think these are things a task. At the time, I was working in Imre Makovecz’s office, and one thought particularly stuck in my mind: The drama of the building is just as important as the building itself. What society goes through, whether they come out of the planning and building period broken or strengthened, and what they will take with them – all of this is very important. An architect’s job is not limited to satisfying a client’s needs. In the process, the designer must think together and learn about all the local conditions, customs, and characteristics in order to create the truly desired building, even beyond the unspoken intent. That’s why I try to insist in every post that it’s a really common design.
Both reformed churches, as well as the church building on Ráday Street in Budapest, wear the perforated plate covering, which gradually became an elegant signature, which also appears inside the buildings. Is this a conscious choice, like signing?
I like these games because they have a message. For the first time, I designed a perforated cover on the main parish building in Újpest, in 2013, this was considered a novelty. We designed the Budaörs church and the Ráday utca building in parallel, and I don’t remember which came first.
