Petro Szarvas “Uzhgorod is very lucky”

July 10, 2016, marks 80 years since the completion of the Provincial Government House (now the premises of the Regional State Administration). The building was designed by Czech engineer and architect František Krupka.

I once recorded a radio interview with Uzhgorod architect Petro Szarvas about this building. I decided to print it out, maybe it will interest you.

"Purely by accident, I (P. Szarvas) once worked 10 years in the building of the Provincial Government, the People’s Council. And I became so imbued with the spirit of the building that when I had to change jobs, I realized what I lost! Every day I would go to work with pleasure. I would go up to fifth, sixth floor, walk down the hall. And on the way back home, I would always walk through the hall (atrium), because it is the best place in this building! It is actually a patio covered with glass. It was a magical space… I wanted to stop and just stay there. Strangely, workers of the RSA (of 500 or more) will never walk through the hall. They walk around it, I think it is the mentality, people are afraid of something…

František Krupka was in the team of architects who designed the government district, starting with the 1920s. This was the time when the Carpathian Ruthenia was a part of Czechoslovakia and became a separate administrative unit with its capital in Uzhgorod. There was a need to establish government institutions. According to the general plan developed by Adolf Libscher, the construction of about 27 buildings started simultaneously. The Provincial Government Building of architect F. Krupka was in the center of this complex. He designed two more buildings in Uzhgorod – the Legionnaires House (where the tax administration is now) and the People’s Bank building (now, the National Bank).

The building of the People’s Council is made in pure neoclassicism style – it is balanced, emanates such confidence! The space is very simple, but statically correct. Interestingly, when you come inside, in the interior, it becomes a completely humane environment… and you can walk and walk there forever… The building stands on one thousand oak poles and is very stable.

Perfect proportions created a fantastic acoustics. When the building was built, balls, receptions and concerts were often held there. Another interesting element of the building is the governor’s apartment. It was in the west wing on the 3rd floor.

The building was built very quickly, in just 3 years. During this period, František Krupka visited the construction site only twice!!    

There was a story. It was about 15-20 years ago, when I worked there. 30 students from Vienna came to Uzhgorod. They were accompanied by Professor Martin Kubelik, the director of the Architectural Institute of Vienna. He knew about this place much more than all of us combined. So we joined this tour. And when these students entered the hall of the RSA, they all just lied on the floor and started looking around. These children knew that they would see something extraordinary.

Somehow people think that architecture can be reworked. But nobody would think about reworking, for example, a piece by Bach. We must preserve it, it’s an outstanding architecture. We can say that Uzhgorod is extremely lucky to have these buildingss." 

Photos from the page of Transcarpation Heritage.