10 Treurenberg, 1000 Brussels
Budapest's captivating and unique look is an undeniable result of the Danube's panorama and the overwhelmingly eclectic architectural mix of the downtown areas. The most outstanding architectural works, officially recognised as part of the universal heritage of the world, are usually nationally protected monuments. Apart from these iconic buildings many buildings and building groups enjoy local, municipality level protection. However, many of the buildings constructed in more recent times are still up for discovery.
Since 2017, the Regulation of the Municipality of Budapest on the protection of the townscape has made it possible to protect architectural assets identified during explorations, initiated ex officio, based on special professional criteria or historical relevance to specific localities. In addition, external initiatives can also be submitted. In recent years, the Urban Planning Department has taken advantage of this opportunity to carry out thematic research by examining buildings and ensembles of buildings which are to be preserved in the capital.
The results of this research are illustrated in the exhibition entitled "From Eclecticism to Brutalism", which invites the viewer to a travel through time, presenting the development of architectural styles from the late XIX. Century to the early 1970-s.
The tableaus include eclectic buildings from the downtown area bordered by the Grand Boulevard, industrial buildings from many different parts of the city, a selection of exciting buildings from the interwar period demonstrating a variety of stylistic trends and works representing the evolution of architecture in the decades following 1945.
The approximately 100 buildings in this exhibition were selected from more than 340 buildings that have been placed under protection by the Municipality of Budapest since 2017.
Presentations by:
Zoltán Erő, Chief Architect of Budapest: How to Defend Meaningful Modernism?
Dilemmas of a Chief Architect
Zoltán Tima, architect, member of MMA: Public Buildings in Budapest from 1949 until nowadays
Musical intermezzo on cello by Gyöngyi Barta, the graphic designer of the exhibition