Images of Kőszeg KRAFT

The publication 'Images of Kőszeg KRAFT' presents the results of the last five years of the Creative City, Sustainable Region program in Hungarian and English, with plenty of photos, richly illustrated, on almost 200 pages.

A harmonious balance between old and new, tradition and renewal, preserving and creating values. This is what this beautiful book showcases, among other themes; it reports on the achievements of a unique and great initiative – the Kőszeg Project based on the Creative City / Sustainable Region (KRAFT) program – and envisages a promising continuation. It both reinforces as well as challenges our image of Kőszeg, a historical town that is often described with the fitting metaphor of a 'jewellery box'. It presents the most significant treasures of the city’s built and intellectual heritage, reinforcing what we already know about Kőszeg, while also challenging it as the “portrait” painted by the book is not a still image capturing the past, but a fresh overview based on the already explored heritage of the past, carefully renewing these values while paving the way for the future.

It’s wonderful to see how much has been created and achieved since the start of the KRAFT program, which was launched only a few years ago in Kőszeg as a pilot project of sorts. The Institute of Advanced Studies (iASK) has been an integral part to this journey. This volume cannot do justice to the Institute’s complex and diverse portfolio of research programmes and activities, which serve as an intellectual background of Kőszeg, providing a fresh source of content to the ever-renewing reality of Kőszeg, which in turn creates an inspiring environment for the Institute.

I am utterly convinced of the exceptional value of this volume – of course I cannot claim to be unbiased, but I hope you can forgive me for this. All in all, I recommend this book to everyone with all my heart! This volume is also a bibliographical work of art deserving recognition – for that, my profound gratitude to Tamás Sellyei. Nonetheless, this book of pictures is not only a nice volume with beautiful images and interesting information, it also offers the wonderful realisation about what a creative present based on the past has to say about the future.

(By Dr. Tamás Fejérdy DLA, Architect, iASK)