Principal architect: István Béres
LIFE AS A PRINCIPAL ARCHITECT
A settlement is a place in the world where people choose to settle down. Earth and life on Earth are gifts that confer responsibilities on us. Alföld, the Great Hungarian Plain, is part of the basin that is embraced by the Carpathians and was left behind by the Pannonian Sea. Those who lived here throughout the ages used the islands and rivers, and adapted to the changes. Living on the palm of God, they also shaped their environment. Our present surroundings are very much unlike that world of old. The community, the population of the settlement keeps growing, and has ever new needs. There are more and more individual ideas in this swiftly changing world, and common goals are consequently more and more difficult to find and formulate. The architect, the town engineer and the principal architect are also parts of the community, while, more than anyone else, they must recognize and understand the local conditions, heritage and assets, and base the town of the future on this foundation, in view of the difficulties and possibilities of the present. With humility, wisdom and courage. These and their work must reveal their knowledge of their profession, their fellow humans, and their environment, along with their Faith. I believe and hope that when the work we do with love, and the life whose days we spend with conversations, consultations, planning and building, are in the service of the Earth and the Creator, then the gift of grace can be had.
Gyula, the Holy Week of 2014
István Béres, Principal Architect of Gyula
