PREFACE
Everything is decided out in the vineyard. All there is left to do in the winery is to preserve the values of the grape juice. We hear winemakers say things like this when they are asked how the entire world can be captured in a bottle. It is all decided on the grape-cultivating area, since it has everything that is fundamental to wine: the minerals in the soil, the orientation of the vineyard, the sunshine, the dew at dawn, botrytis, and the gentle breeze. The sophisticated machinery provided by modern technology can only enhance or destroy the gifts of nature. Added to all this is the knowledge of the winemaker, a tradition that continues to thrive, and there you have the recipe for the architecture of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine region too. Indeed, our built environment forms just as much part of local culture, always drawing on the roots, resources and climate of a region as well as on the expertise of masters present and past.
It was more than forty years ago that the architecture hallmarked by Imre Makovecz and his fellow architects and starting with their residential homes in Sárospatak emerged. Crucial to this architecture was the continuation of the wine region’s traditions, and, similarly to the winemaking process, it was one that encapsulated the essence of the region. Everything here in the vineyards as well as in the towns and villages is infused with history and a Mediterranean feeling: every square inch of the settlements and the landscape bears the mark of human activity and reflects local culture.
This volume /and website/ initiates readers into the history and characteristic features of winemaking in Tokaj-Hegyalja and highlights outstanding examples of new construction and renovation projects from the last thirty or more years: houses whose designers and owners attribute huge importance to embracing the region’s character and its architectural traditions, while, through their work as well as intellectual and financial assets, they continue the wonder they discovered in Tokaj-Hegyalja. In the same way as the essence of centuries and vineyard-covered hills is concentrated in a glass of fine Tokaji wine, the houses presented here breathe the air of this wine region’s culture.
Ferenc Salamin
Preface from the book TOKAJ, the architecture of the wine region, 2022.
