Bauhaus Budapest: A Short Guide
zita kisgergely
via Wiki Commons
Amongst other qualities, Budapest is known for its rich architectural heritage and diverse styles. Secessionist and Art Deco examples abound, as do Morrish and Brutalist structures. But for a brief phase in the middle of the last century, all the rage was the Bauhaus style, which had its roots in Central Europe. Budapest was no exception.
Bauhaus is easy to spot, but not necessarily easy to define. According to thespruce.com, the style is characterized by “Eschewing ornamentation to focus on simple, rational, functional design
A focus on simple geometric forms such as the triangle, square, and circle
Asymmetry favored over symmetry
Use of steel, glass, concrete, and other modern materials
Flat roofs
Glass curtain walls
Smooth façades”
Founded in Weimar-era Germany by architect Walter Gropius, the style was more functional than prevailing pre-war styles. For a brief period, it flourished in Central Europe. With WWII imminent, many of the movement’s founders moved abroad, allowing the style to grow internationally. In part, this was helped by a famous Hungarian named László Moholy-Nagy, who fled Hungary and Germany and founded a Bauhaus school in the United States.
Moreover, according to Wikipedia, In 1928, the Hungarian painter Alexander Bortnyik founded a school of design in Budapest called Műhely, which means "the studio". Located on the seventh floor of a house on Nagymezo Street, it was meant to be the Hungarian equivalent to the Bauhaus. The literature sometimes refers to it—in an oversimplified manner—as "the Budapest Bauhaus". Bortnyik was a great admirer of László Moholy-Nagy and had met Walter Gropius in Weimar between 1923 and 1925. Moholy-Nagy himself taught at the Miihely. Victor Vasarely, a pioneer of op art, studied at this school before establishing in Paris in 1930.
In short, while Bauhaus is hardly the favored style of construction in and around Budapest, we do have some stellar examples, and a lot of tradition behind them.
Photo by Tamas Szabo via Wiki Commons
Photo by Tamas Szabo via Wiki Commons
Photo by Globetrotter19, via Wiki Commons
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