Visitors to Budapest are instantly aware that Budapest has an
atmosphere very much its own, even though it has much in common
with the architecture and layout of other cities in Central Europe.
The face that Budapest now shows mostly dates from the turn of
the 19th and 20th centuries, due to a combination of unparalled
development and a construction boom combined with a conjunction
of circumstances and various influences. Projects of unprecedented
importance were launched to celebrate the Millennium of the Magyar
Conquest in 1896. These included the construction of Andrássy
Avenue terminating with and crowned by Heroes Square, and the Millennium
underground line, second in the world after London's. Planning
and construction regulations were strict, but they were supportive
of individual initiations. Most buildings in Budapest are unique
in appearance, some perhaps with a leaning towards extremities,
but they were all planned with a view to harmonise with the environment.
The Art Nouveau style, whose ripples reached Hungary at the time,
had quite a few adherents. Admirers of this style, known as Secession
in Hungary, each brought their own personal taste to it, but aimed
at creating a unity. Two main schools developed, one with a Magyar
attitude and the other with a more foreign orientation. The most
important figure in the Magyar school was Ödön Lechner,
whose ambitions took shape in a unique historicism. He found inspiration
in the roots of Hungarian folk art, and developed a personal method
of expression from this. His excellent technical skills were acquired
in Paris, where he spent three years.
The eclectic building of Vajdahunyad Castle, erected for the huge
exhibition held to celebrate the Millennium, and which operates
as the Museum of Agriculture today, was modelled on various existing
Hungarian castles and palaces. Near Heroes' Square, it creates
a striking contrast to the Arts Hall, which was designed by Lechner.
The foreign school made its appearance in the 1890s, in the form
of exotic and symbolic elements. Its most famous figure was Frigyes
Spiegel, who decorated traditional façades with allegoric
figures and scenes.
Let's
take an imaginary visit to Budapest's most famous buildings from the
turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Pest was the centre of commercial
and cultural life even before the turn of the century, so it is no
wonder that the majority of famous buildings were built there. But
we will start over the river, in Buda.
The Hotel Gellért and the Gellért Baths were built
more than 80 years ago to utilise the thermal waters that rise
from the deep caves under Gellért Hill; these buildings
are deservedly considered as ornaments of the Danube bank and of
the city as a whole. The complex is one of the most attractive
luxury hotels in Budapest, whose baths are supplied by 13 thermal
springs with water temperatures ranging from 27 to 48 °C. They
include tubs, steam baths, a swimming pool, an artificial wave
pool, and a Jacuzzi, making the Gellért Baths Budapest's
best.
Going across the Danube to Pest, we should look at the Museum of
Applied Arts (where an exhibition on the Secession is on display),
which is equally imposing inside and outside. The roof of the building
catches the eye from the distance, decorated with majolica tiles
made in the famous Zsolnay factory. (These tiles were used to decorate
the roofs of many buildings in Budapest.) The Museum of Applied
Arts was built between 1893 and 1896, in line with plans prepared
by Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos. The steel structure
above the main hall is stuccoed, and the stuccos follow and demonstrate
the logic of the structure while making it more graceful.
Our next stop is the Music Academy. The building is a mixture of
styles, richly decorated with sculptures and reliefs, showing elements
of the Baroque, the Neo-Classic and Eastern architecture. The bronze
demon figures standing above the entablature of the central projection
were originally used to decorate the Hungarian pavilion of the
International Applied Arts Fair in Milan in 1905. The internal
structure is a perfect example of the effort of the times: to integrate
a range of different artistic styles.
In
a light-hearted mood we can now visit the Budapest Zoo and Botanical
Gardens, which opened in 1866. Tens of thousands of animals and plants
originating from all over the world are on display here in romantic
artificial lakes, among the rocks, in aquariums and glasshouses, and
buildings that bear an exotic, eastern influence. The planners aimed
to create living spaces for the animals that correspond to their original
environment, and hence established an "international open-air
architectural museum", which is significant in itself, even without
the dwellers. The elephant house, whose roof is also decorated with
Zsolnay majolica, has been recently awarded a Europa Nostra prize.
Finally,
let's mingle with the real Pestiek for a while, in a real Pest environment.
Samu Petz designed the City Market Hall, which is one of the largest
food markets in Budapest. The roof is decorated with Zsolnay majolica,
and the market's floor space of 10,500 square metres houses several
hundred small shops, a supermarket, and caters for an amazing range
of taste in food.
Let's
take an imaginary visit to Budapest's most famous buildings from the
turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Pest was the centre of commercial
and cultural life even before the turn of the century, so it is no
wonder that the majority of famous buildings were built there. But
we will start over the river, in Buda.