Farewell

One of Hungary’s greatest contemporary architects, Imre Makovecz died last week at the age 75. This article had been written by him in 2002, published in the July issue of the magazine „A mi otthonunk” (Our Home)
Special thanks to my friend Pablo Gorondi for smoothing off the edges of my translation.

Building a house without the woman?

I have repeatedly written it down, that I shall not undertake designing a family house unless – along with her man - the woman too is present in the preliminary talks. I have multiple reasons for this.

First: if the woman is not there, she worms out the details from her man afterward at home, with the man sure to have bungled the presentation of their requirements. He forgot to ask the important things, so we have to start all over at the next meeting again and again until he finally brings her along. If she does not come, the plans are sure to be wrong and even the best intentions are received with resolute resistance.

The other reason is that it is indeed the woman who knows, feels, holds, arranges, decorates and fills the home with warmth.

Women’s thinking – thank God – is not based on the National Building Code, which describes the size of the hallway and proper placements of the coat rack, the electric and the gas meter. Women start like this: here we are – and they think of the center of the house, living it, pointing around – here is the kitchen, the pantry, kids doing homework here in the middle, where I can see them studying. This is the way they take measure of the rooms of the house one by one. They live it and hold it. Unlike men, who can only think of construction, limited funding and the neighbor lodging an appeal.

In the old times, three-section cottages were built this way. In the center, the woman with the oven, the cooking appliance, a bed, chicks and hens under the oven, a porch in front, the "clean room" (a sort of guest room used only on special occasions) on one side and another room or the pantry on the other. The house has a heart. I insist on having a living space, with all the other rooms opening from it. This way, entering the house we step into the very heart of family life. The true, loving way of family life can be created in this way only.

Therefore, there is no such thing as equal rights for women in my profession. Women, those blessed women, mothers, are the masters, men are mere “gaudy servants”.

There is a proverb saying “three corners of the house are held up by the woman and only one by the man, but if that one falls, woe betides the whole house.”

Keep asking women about life. They know it, they give it, they carry it under their hearts. Our job is giving this blessed life shape, contours. Real shape, safety, background against the unexpected trials of the world so that life, entrusted to our women, shall prevail.