Csepely-Knorr Luca: Barren Places to Public Spaces. A History of Publick Park Design in Budapest 1867-1914 (Budapest, 2016)
Public Park design in Budapest during the second half of the 19th Century
Keresztély Ilsemann, Plan for landscaping Corvin Square, 1902 HUBFL XV.l 7.d.lS14.a 1/3.1 To create a valuable green environment around the city’s churches was another important goal in the decades around the turn of the 20th century. These small spaces, also often called ‘szkver’, were less important in terms of the theoretical evolution of public park design, however the urban design idea to create a decent environment for the main buildings of the capital was crucial. The square around the Parish Church of Lipótváros (today Basilica of St Stephen) was designed by Keresztély Ilsemann in 1895.293 Ilsemann’s design was preceded by that of one of the church’s designers, Miklós Ybl from 1870. Ilsemann’s plan was more ornamental and lavishly decorated than Ybl’s. Both designs used the elements of historicist designs, but while Ilsemann used components from the baroque period - such as raised flower beds which were visible on the sections -, Ybl’s idea recalled the classical period of English landscape gardens, although with geometrical details. Ilsemann’s planting proposal consisted of solitary shrubs and grassy areas. After the layout of the gardens surrounding the Basilica, other open spaces around other churches were also designed by the Head- Gardener between 1897 and 1899, such as Bakáts Square (around the recently built Ferencváros Parish Church) between 1897 and 1899, Szilágyi Dezső Square next to the Calvinist church in 1901, Corvin Square next to the church of the Order of Minor Capuchin Friars of Buda in 1902, and Szegényház (today Rózsák) Square in 1905, around the newly built Erzsébetváros Parish Church.294 The main role of these ornamental green spaces was to create a suitable environment for the important buildings. The plans and descriptions show layouts similar to the one at Gizella Square: grassy areas with flower beds, surrounded by iron fences. Keresztély Ilsemann, Plan for landscaping Szegényház (today Rózsák) Square, 1905 / HU BFL XV.17.d.lS14.a 7/1.1 95
