József Vágó

József Vágó's brilliant career - like that of many of his compatriots - began in an empire that stretched across half of Europe and had no internal borders. After the First World War, Hungary became a small state wedged between several countries, where it was very difficult to find work. Against his will, Vágó thus became a citizen of the world: he lived in four countries, spoke the language of each almost perfectly, adapted his first name to them (Giuseppe, Joseph, Josef), and anxiously watched the rise of totalitarian regimes. His success in the competition for the Geneva Palace of the League of Nations brought him international fame at the last moment. The transient phenomena of the everyday world did not distract him from the eternal values ​​of architecture and the city. The City of the Future he dreamed of - which is not centered on transportation - provides space for the most diverse activities of a socially sensitive society and creates a much more livable environment than the urban vision of Le Corbusier, with whom he is constantly in dispute.