EURÓPA-UDVAR    NÁDVORIE EURÓPY     EUROPA PLATZ    EUROPE PLACE

Book of creators

Nándor Litomericzky, architect

Ateliér Európa - Lights

   I was born on 9th August 1965 in Komárno. After I had finished the study at the secondary grammar school in the Hungarian language in Komárno (Secondary Grammar School of Hans Sely at present) and I had served the two years military service since 1986 I continued my studies at the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989 we with some friends established the Club of Miklós Ybl associating the students of civil engineering of Hungarian nationality. After I graduated in 12th June in 1991 I was working in the several designer offices, in 1993 I was one of the founders and co-owners of Proform Atelier. Since 1996 I am the member of Slovak Association of Architects. Since 1997 I cooperate with Peter Varga and together with him we founded the new designer office named Atelier Europe. In 1998 we together with Peter Takács started to prepare the construction of the Europe Place in Komárno. In 1999 I was elected the member of the International Association of Hungarian Civil Engineers and Architects (Magyar Mérnökök és Építészek Világszövetsége).

   The exhibitions: The Salon of Architecture, Bratislava (collective exhibition, 1997), The Living Architecture (collective moving exhibition, 1998), The Europe Place (moving exhibition - with Peter Varga and Peter Takács, 1999)

   The literature: The Living Architecture 2000 (catalogue from the exhibition)

Nové Zámky - House of the sunrise

   More significant works: Faithfulness - the palace of Farkas family (Vydrany, 1993), the house Metamorphosys (Komárno, 1994), the House of Rising Sun (Nové Zámky, 1994), the House of Elisabeth (Komárno, 1994), the Tailor´s Workshop GAL (Svätý Peter, 1995), the shop with mixed goods BAKER (Marcelová, 1995), Pension Árgyélus (Martovce, 1995), the house Symbiosis (Dunajská Streda, 1995), the house Mélisande (Komárno, 1995), the house Approaches (Komárno, 1995), the House of Brother Sun and Sister Moon (Okoličná - Lúky, 1995), Pension Kiss of the Queen (Komárno, 1996), the house Ad Leones (Gbelce, 1996), the house Villa Rustica (Dunajská Streda, 1996), The Golden Street (Komárno, 1996), the administrative building Shila (Komárno, 1997), the Baptist Church (Komárno, 1998), the administrative building Zlatotex (Dunajská Streda, 1998), the cultural-reposing centre Bastion V (Komárno, 1999), Hotel Leonor (Kolárovo, 1999),the artistic-craft workshop of the school Schola Privata Gutaiensis (Kolárovo, 1999).

Peter Takács, The main supplier of the construction
An Unusual Curriculum Vitae

   I offer the dear reader to his attention this unusual curriculum vitae, which is not similar to those traditionally used ones, mainly those that used to be written before the Velvet Revolution in 1989. It is more a kind of the confession, not composed systematically, but coming from my deepest feelings and convictions. In addition to mentioning the traditional data I would like to briefly talk about what means the period from the spring 1998 until the autumn 2001 for me, the period of the construction of the Europe Place and also the most significant period in my life until now.

   I was born in 1956 in Sládkovičovo near Bratislava. From my father, who was the painter - and belonged to the „old school“ - I learned that the quality is the most important in the work. The hobby of my mother was the painting of pictures and I believe that I inherited something from their sense for beauty. I am grateful to them for my careless childhood spent in the Kozia Street.

Komárno - reconstruction of the main hall of the officer`s pavillon, 1994

   I was attending the secondary grammar school in Galanta, I was studying at the University in the Czech town Brno where I graduated in 1982 at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. The years spent here largely influenced my further life. The study of civil engineering at the Brno University is of high european level. Mostly I esteemed the teachers, who in their lectures were able to explain the most complicated problem in a simple way, understandable for anyone. From among them prof. Rochla was the most outstanding who was the excellent architect and the direct person. He told us that before he had become the university teacher he went through the all stages in this field, he began as the apprentice. Influenced by his personality I am of the opinion that the civil engineer has to know his profession from the preparatory works. Even the theoretical knowledge of the highest degree do not mean much without their practical application. Together with my friend Juraj Suba we were leaders of the Students Club of Ferenc Kazinczy (KAFEDIK) in Brno.

   After I finished my studies, looking for the job I visited several towns of southern Slovakia. I have decided for Komárno, because it engaged my attention by its unique position, history and rich cultural life.

   Before the change of the political system I was working in the several companies and organisations, and already two years before the democratic changes I tested my abilities as the entrepreneur. I started my entrepreneurial activity in the field of civil engineering in 1990. In 1993 I was the co-founder of the company T&O, s.r.o. This company realised the construction, production and sale of the construction material and reached the significant success in this field. As the most significant projects realised in Komárno I can mention the reconstruction of the several buildings of the New Fortress, the reconstruction of the interior of the Officers´ Pavilion, the reconstruction of the former Hotel Centrál, the renovation and reconstruction of the Bratislava Gate and Bastion IV. I was forced to leave the company by the personal reasons in 1997.

   I felt the disappointment and emptiness, however, this did not last forever. I belong to people who, although pushed against the wall, stand up again to their own feet and fight again with more strength and resoluteness as in the past. In these circumstances one pushes forward his goals, and therefore I was looking for the new challenge. After my exploration of Komárno and its surroundings I opt for unkept inner courtyard of the Zichy Palace in 1998. Looking for the future business partners I as first approached Ing. Viliam Fábry who was the chairman of the present Committee for the Development of the town. During our common professional considerations he proposed, that the building up could be similar to the open air country museum in Barcelona. Viliam Fábry gave up further cooperation due to his working duties, and therefore after the long consideration I finally invited Nándor Litomericzky and Peter Varga to elaborate the construction studies and to the further cooperation. I met with the studies of Mr. Litomericzky in the Committee for the Development of the Town and as they were, in my opinion, elaborated in the engaging and constructive style, I decided to cooperate with him. After the arising of the study under the name Europe Place and after one year lasting bureaucratic procedures, typical for our conditions, the construction could begin. This living period was characterised by the sleepless nights, because I invested my whole assets to the purchase of the building sites and to the initial construction. For the first time I gave a breath of relief only at the moment when the foundations, or walls of the first floor, respectively, appeared over the ground and the first clients - the present co-owners applied. The course of the construction meant much more pleasant task for me, irrespective of how complicated construction it was.
The original solutions required more changes in the course of the construction, this is how, for example, the two underground floors came into existence.

Komárno - Fortification system, The Bratislava gate, reconstruction of the hist. place, 1995

   In the interest of the successful realisation of this complicated and demanding work I was trying to use my almost twenty-years professional and entrepreneurial skills. Beside the implementation tasks we had to solve the wide scale of the organisational, managerial, economical and financial problems. I felt the need to take part also in the process of composing the project - in particular in designing the construction, statics and installations.

   In coping with the numerous obstacles, while looking at the speed progress of the construction, during which the Europe Place was starting to get its dreamed form, I was overcome with the feeling of happiness, as I felt that by the construction of this complex of buildings in the centre of the town I will also contribute to the development of Komárno.

   Many persons are interested in the secret of the success represented by the realisation of the grandiose investment project of this character, given the generally known unfavourable economical situation of Slovakia. The answer is, that this secret does not exist, the key to the success is the well organised team work, professionalism, establishment of the groups aimed at the protection of interests and last, but not least, the fact, that the one likes his job.

   This couple of years belongs to the happiest ones of my life, because in the meantime I became the father of two daughters, Evelyn and Odetta who are the most important for me at present, and only after them then the work comes next and last, but not least, I devote my free time to the folk music.

Peter Varga, architect

   A man is mostly formed by the first years of his life and the same applies to the studies or the professional practice. The family, people, and also the place where the man is brought up belong here. The housing estate in the town without the historical centre has influence other than the town with the history presented mainly by the architecture. The result of this circulus vitiosus of the mutual appeal can be the qualitative difference in the understanding of the routes of our and european culture and history, and also in the founding of the appropriate place, as well as the understanding the genius loci through the architecture. It is also the awareness that everybody comes from somewhere and belongs somewhere. In my opinion I met several valuable and less valuable people in my life, as well as with the projects I worked on at home and many years also abroad.

Iža - Leányvár, Roman camp, partial rekonstruction, 1997

   I was born on 28th April 1959 in Nitra, but I was living for twenty-eight years of my life in Komárno where I finished the secondary grammar school in 1978. After I finished my studies at the Faculty of Architecture of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava for the first three years of my practice I was working in Komárno, in the town, which became attached to me. Many of my projects are connected with this town, in spite of the fact, that I moved with my family to Bratislava in 1987, where I was working in the field of the protection of monuments - the restoration of the city historical monuments in Slovakia. Since 1990 I have been working as the designer, from the beginning in my own atelier SAAD and subsequently as the authorised architect of the Slovak Association of Architects. In the years 1996-97 I was working together with Ľudovít Godányi, since 1997 with Nándor Litomericzky and together with him we later established the common Atelier Europe.

   During my practice I was working as the designer, co-author or author in the different projects of both the new buildings and reconstructions. I did the projects for Komárno (Administratrative building of OSC Komárno, Arrangements of the park and small architecture in Nesvady - within the framework of the cooperation with I. Schwarzová,, the Information System of the Roman Military Camp in Iža and Indicative Reconstruction of the Roman Military Camp in Iža, the Permanent Exposition of Roman Lapidarium in the Bastion VI), for Bratislava (the observation restaurant Slavín - within the cooperation with Ľ. Godányi), for Dolný Kubín (Car Salon Škoda Orava - within the cooperation with N. Litomericzky), for Prague and Vienna (several residential houses, administrative buildings, hotel with the tennis hall and the sport hall). The permanent exhibition of the Roman Lapidarium was awarded as the Exhibition of the year 1993 and the prize EUROPA NOSTRA awarded by the Danish Prince for the preservation and appropriate cultural and social use of the monument belonging to the european cultural heritage.

Bratislava - Sightseeingrestaurant Slavín, (cooperation: Ing. arch. Ľ. Gogányi)

   Since 1998 we together with Péter Takács and Nándor Litomericzky began to prepare and in 1999 to realise the project of the Europe Place. This book only partly describes how demanding this original project was. The joint stock company EURO INVESTA, a.s. has entrusted us not only with its projecting and realisation, but also the marketing, management and image-building. The crowds coming each day to the Europe Place represent the evidence of the facts, that we were successful, together with the team of capable people around us. This speaks for itself.

   I would like to thank my family, our employees of Atelier Europe and EURO INVESTA, a.s. I would like to thank also to those people which - each according to his limits - contributed to achievement of this result: E. Dénesová, Z. Harsányi, P. Staňa, the deputies of the town local representation, the officials of the state offices and town offices of Komárno.