Bálint Nagy

* 1949

  • Bálint Nagy: This was the Bem square, where we put up a notice signed by the four of us, that there will be a big function commemorating the Polish takeover. (László) Rajk, (Miklós) Haraszti, (Gábor) Demszky and I. Demszky and I were taken from the square, Rajk was late so he was tracked down somewhere down the Margit Boulevard, or the Road of Martyrs, as it was called back then. In order for the times to be correct, he got tracked down there.Strangely enough, we were taken to the Tolnai street, too. Not to the district police headquarters. It was neither that district, nor the one where we lived. I don’t think any of our circle lived in that district. Our story might have been assigned to them. Then they questioned us one by one. We were driven there in separate cars, in Audis. Zsuzsanna Kőrösi: Audis, back then? NB: Yes, Audis, well, the highest ranking cars of the Interior Ministery came to pick us up. It does have an aspect of flattery to it, doesn’t it? They had no sirens on, but they drove along the tram line all along the Körút and the four Audis turned left into József street , which they weren’t supposed to do. I think there were three Audis and one Mercedes. And there were policemen on both sides. They were expecting us. And then everyone reacted according to their temper. I’m not the kind who gets agitated. I keep chatting. If they ask me something,I’ll tell them what their business is and I won’t answer them if it is none of their business. Ott vártak bennünket. És ott mindenki vérmérsékletének megfelelően reagált erre a dologra. Én nem szoktam ilyenkor hepciáskodni, én beszélgetek. Ha kérdeznek, ami rájuk tartozik, azt megmondom, ami nem tartozik rájuk, azt nem mondom meg. KZs: And what was their business? NB: The fact that that we organized an event like this was their business, for example. I signed it, so there was no point in denying. There were those, who looked at their watch every five minutes and said „I ’d like to know why you took me here” then kept quiet for another five minutes, then asked it again. Hogy szerveztünk egy ilyet például, ez rájuk tartozott. Aláírtam a nevemmel, tehát ezen nincs mit tagadni. Volt, aki nézte az óráját, és ötpercenként azt mondta, hogy „szeretném tudni, hogy miért hoztak be”. Aztán nem szólt egy szót sem. Aztán öt perc múlva megint. ZSK: Who was that? BN: The thing is, I don’t remember. That’s why I won’t say that it was Haraszti, Rajk or Demszky. No, Demszky usually kicks up a fuss. And so he did on this ocassion as well. Then they emphatically warned us to go home and keep out of trouble.And i said straight away that I was sorry but I had to go to a party at someone’s place, where theyhave the opening party of a house that I designed, where, by the way, the whole opposition showed up. So after we had been released at about 2 a.m., everyone learnt about what happened in half an hour.

  • Full recordings
  • 1

    Budapest, 18.08.2010

    (audio)
    duration: 02:25:49
    media recorded in project Oral History Archive - Budapest
Full recordings are available only for logged users.

Partying was a major and prevailing form in Adyliget

Nagy Bálint
Nagy Bálint
photo: családi fotó

Bálint Nagy was born on 24 May 1949 in Szeged. Following his secondary school graduation he studied in Budapest at a vocational college of construction; in 1976 he earned a degree at the Construction Faculty of the Technical College. From 1972 onwards he worked for major architecture companies (IPARTERV,LAKÓTERV,VÁTI). He worked for Csaba Virág among others, who he regards as his master, subsequently, he worked together with István Schneller. In 1979 they refused to extend his contract due to his involvement with the opposition. For the next approximately ten years he worked as a roofer. His work as an architect can be characterized by social sensitivity, in several cases he invited social scientists to participate in designing his buildings. He has a versatile architectural style, his buildings are ecclectic containing modern architectural elements. In 1980 he was a founder of the Fund to Support the Poor (SZETA), between 1981-84 he is the founding editor of the samizdat Beszélő. Between 1983-84 he worked in Vence (France) having won a scholarship of the Mihály Károlyi Memorial Foundation. Between 1987-90 he is a scholarship holder of Atlantic Research and Publications in the USA. In 1991 he launched his own studio of architecture (N&n - NagyBálint and Associates). In 2001 he opened the N&n Gallery. Since 2009 he has been the manager of the Fuga Budapest Center of Architecture. He has got seven children.