52 YBL JOURNAL OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT Vol. 7 Issue 2 (2019) 10.2478/jbe-2019-0011 t wO Parallel liFe PatHs: alaDár ÁrkaY anD ernő Foerk aurél Benárd Szent István University Ybl Miklós Faculty of Architecture and Civil Engineering Institute of Architecture, Budapest, Hungary Benard.Aurel@ybl.szie.hu Abstract: Architects Aladár Árkay and Ernő Foerk crossed the path reasonable few times, even though their course of life were parallel. Not only the place, but also the date of their birth were quite close. This fact will be the starting point to compare the two architects’ career. Keywords: Árkay, Foerk, church architecture, Historicism, Art Nouveau, Modern 1. THEIR MASTERS Aladár Árkay and Ernő Foerk were born in Timisoara in 1868. Árkay on February 1 (died on February 2 1932), Foerk on February 3 (died January 26 1936). This seems a fateful coincidence and the parallels do not end there, even though next year Sándor Árkay and his family moved to Pest and they lose contact to Timisoara. [1] Both started their career with a strong artistic motive. While the two days older Árkay was obsessed with painting, Foerk was attracted to sculpture. Vienna, the Imperial City, became a reference point in their professional life - Foerk was studying there, Árkay was working as a construction supervisor for the studio of the celebrated Viennese theatre architects Fellner & Helmer. The two different minded architects they worked at determine their further professional progress. Foerk is in the employ of Imre Steindl, a rather purist architect whose design style turns from Neo-Renaissance to Neo-Gothic. Foerk participates in the design of the Parliament Building in Budapest. Meanwhile Árkay is working with Alajos Hauszmann at the construction of the Royal Palace in Buda, also a building representing authority. Hauszmann’s workstyle is rather experimental. His building style developed from Neo-Renaissance to Art Nouveau, his work reflects the completely new, almost revolutionary concept of architecture at the end of the 19th century. At that time, the expressions of architecture used to be adopted from the historical architecture, in an academic way. Although there have been attempts to create a new style for a „modern” architecture (e.g., favourite examples of mine are the form-and-structure experiments of Viollet le Duc), but this long-sought modern style could only evolve at the end of the century in cultures belonging to the West. Hauszmann recognized the potential of this new architecture and might have give encouragement to Árkay. I do not see this openness in Steind’s work, and this conservative approach characterised later on Foerk’s design attitude. However, the various approach has not to be considered as a difference in the professional quality of Hauszmann and Steindl. Currently we more appreciate the individual performance, the analytical approach, the personalities looking for new ways - but we need to relate and rely