Light and Form - Modern Architecture and Photography in Hungary 1927-1945

Two Hungarian-related architecture exhibitions are on show in the capital of Baden-Württemberg at the same time.

In 2021, Dr. Dezső B. Szabó, the head of the Liszt Institute in Stuttgart, along with his colleague Márton Barki, proposed the idea of organizing an exhibition on the experimental housing estate built in 1931 on Budapest's Napraforgó Street. This proposal was made to Dr. Anja Krämer, the director of the Weissenhofmuseum im Haus Le Corbusier, and was partially influenced by the example set in Stuttgart. The monographic exhibition, titled "Versuchssiedlung Budapest - Musterhäuser Napraforgó-Strasse," was organized by the Weissenhofmuseum im Haus Le Corbusier and the Freunde der Weissenhofsiedlung Association, under the direction of Klaus J. Loderer. The exhibition featured original documents and objects on loan from the Napraforgó Street Bauhaus Association, founded by Dr. Dóra Groó and led by Dr. Gábor Megyeri, as well as contributions from the MÉM MDK. It opened on December 8, 2023, at the Weissenhofwerkstatt gallery, located in the building designed by Mies van der Rohe. The exhibition, which has already attracted numerous visitors, will remain open until March 4, 2024.

Dr. Dezső B. Szabó and Márton Barki also initiated the connection between the exhibition on Sunflower Street and a selection of Hungarian modernist works from the period between the two world wars, exhibited at the Hungarian Cultural Centre at Christophstrasse 7 in downtown Stuttgart. Inspired by the success of the exhibition on synagogue architecture organized by Dr. Ivett Oszkó, a member of the MÉM MDK, the Liszt Institute in Stuttgart once again sought collaboration with the MÉM MDK. The Hungarian Museum of Architecture and the Centre for Documentation of Monument Protection possess extensive collections of photographs showcasing modern Hungarian architecture from that time period. Curator Pál Ritoók, Head of the Museum Department, has compiled an overview of these photographs, selecting images from the exhibition "Light and Form," which he created in collaboration with Ibolya Csengel-Plank and the late Virág Hajdú. This exhibition has been displayed in various European and Hungarian cities.

The majority of the photographs taken in the 1930s were originally published in architectural journals to document completed construction projects and to promote modernism through powerful visual imagery. Most notably, these photographs appeared in the progressive architectural journal "Space and Form." This is why the exhibition was titled "Light and Form," slightly modifying the journal's name while incorporating the essential element of photography. The exhibition, paying homage to modernist architecture and architectural photography in Hungary during that period, will remain open until April 10, 2024. It features over forty photographs and four architectural models, all of which are being exhibited in Stuttgart for the first time.

In collaboration with the Weissenhofmuseum, the Freunde der Weissenhofsiedlung Association, and the MÉM MDK, the Liszt Institute Stuttgart will organize a symposium on February 22, 2024, at 17:00, in connection with the two architectural exhibitions. The symposium will include the participation of Dr. Anja Krämer, Dr. Raquel Jaureguízar, Dr. András Ferkai, and PhD student Anna Ágnes Sebestyén, who is an associate of the MÉM MDK Museum Department.

Source: https://memmdk.hu/cikkek/kiallitasok/feny-es-forma-modern-epiteszet-es-foto-magyarorszagon-1927-1945