The Writers' Bookstore has for several decades served as an important and intimate location for promoting contemporary literature, offering long shelves full of books by the best contemporary writers. The interior looked a bit like a cosy and warm writer's study. After the renovation, this sense of familiarity and comfortable homeliness now appears in a very different light. Upon entering the new interior, one experiences a very much lighter environment and expanded space, thanks to the high ceilings and mezzanine floor.
As a result of the renovation, which was timely without doubt, the store got a much "cooler" and contemporary look, thanks to a concept that better utilises available space. This sense of coolness can be partly attributed to the lack of old furnishings and the disappearance, or at least reduction, of alcoves. The back room has been turned into a storage area, a change that also makes the store room more translucent and airy. The architect couple in charge of the redesign, László and Barbara Cselőtei, obviously followed the concept according to which the store should be decorated by the books themselves. The new walls of books indeed make a pleasant impression to those looking into the store from the street, through the large shop windows.
The legendary Japanese Café, set up here in the 1890s, has since become part of literary, art and café history, and it is also very much part of this building's history. The café was a regular meeting place for such famous actors, artists, architects, writers and poets as the Latabár brothers, Pál Merse Szinyei, Ödön Lechner, József Rippl-Rónai, Sándor Bródy, vagy éppen József Attila. The Writers' Bookstore has always considered it important to maintain this intellectual heritage and even now, several relics from the period are presented in a special display.
One of the most significant features of the revamped store is the ceiling stucco that currently decorates the ceiling of the mezzanine and follows the original design of the Japanese Café. Although only a part of the original ceiling has been refurbished and can be viewed behind a glass wall, this blending of old and new still demonstrates well that the effort to modernise can fit harmoniously with satisfying those who prefer nostalgia.
The newly built mezzanine is a perfect space for public reading events and book launches, although this new location will not allow passers-by to peek in from the street. The carpets and the glass railings are decorated with humorous literary quotations by those who have been associated with this store over the years. As Dezső Tandori said: "Dear Writers's Bookstore, you have been a writers' paradise for many of us." And the regulars at the Japan Café nod in agreement.
Author: Éva Kelemen / Photo: Dániel Kováts
