„Tisztelt Kollégánk! Közös játékra hívjuk…”: A Keszthely ’81 pályázat a kelet-európai konceptuális városépítészet kontextusában
“Dear Colleague! We invite you to play together…”: The Keszthely ’81 competition in the context of Eastern European conceptual urban architecture

Summary/Abstract: Performative walks in a neglected part of Riga, a row of high-rise buildings inspired by Laurie Anderson, a surreal transformation of a Prague housing estate – some of the exciting works from the Estonian Museum of Architecture’s 2023 exhibition focusing on works from the Eastern Bloc (Forecast and Fantasy. Architecture without Borders, 1960s to 1980s). This is where the 1981 submission for the rehabilitation of downtown Keszthely by Dezső Ekler, Katalin Gyarmathy, György Konrád, Bálint Nagy, Katalin Pikler, László Rajk and their colleagues first entered an international context, leading the “The City as a Stage” section of the Tallinn exhibition. The concept, implemented with the involvement of more than a hundred artists representing different professions and generations, is a critique of functionalist urban planning and the design company system. The montage-style plan, which contemplates the future of the settlement based on the examination of the historical urban fabric, was also an eye-catching work in its appearance, and its scientific processing has not yet been carried out. The first Venice Architecture Biennale in 1980 and the UIA Congress in Warsaw in 1981 provide a basis for interpreting the Keszthely ’81 competition and its relationship with the postmodern turn. With the institutionalization of architectural communication, “paper architecture”, which was then spreading internationally, gained its right to exist. Eastern European architects also entered international idea competitions in professional journals, and the Tallinn exhibition presented several of these examples. In this study, I present collaborative examples of this material, from the paper architecture and performative works of artists from former socialist countries, exploring the city, discussing the Keszthely ’81 competition in more detail, and also publishing some short quotes from Konrád’s unpublished series of interviews with the creators of the competition.

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