Armuth Miklós - Lőrinczi Zsuzsa (szerk.): A Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem Történeti Campusa (Budapest, 2023)
A Műegyetem története - The History of the University of Technology GY. Balogh Ágnes
3 0 and the Main Building commences in the spring of 1881. On the 25th of November 1882 Rector Kálmán Szily officially opens the buildings for the 1882-83 academic year. This is the first time the Technical University occupies a building specifically built for academic purposes. The university's new four-building complex was built to accommodate 600 students and four departments. The main building, located on Museum Boulevard, houses the architectural, engineering and mechanical engineering departments including large lecture rooms for mathematics classes. Individual departments located themselves on various floors, whilst the attic was used to establish an observatory. The building was heated by a system of warm air heat exchangers designed by professor of chemistry Vince Wartha. In 1882 the Technical University placed regulations upon students requiring that a mandatory curriculum, not freedom of studies, be adhered to. The preparatory year was eliminated meaning students could start academic studies directly after completing fouryears of high school education. Already in 1882 more and more students enrolled at the university, more than the buildings could accommodate. Due to a lack of space a new two-storey pavilion, designed by Alajos Hauszmann, is opened in 1893, at Eszterházy Street No. 3. The architecture department needing extra space for its senioryearstudents and fourdepartments requires more classrooms, architectural drawing rooms and freehand drawing studios. In addition to this the existing buildings are extended to include new departments of agricultural mechanics and electrical engineering. Since the student population has risen to more than 1600 it becomes necessary to rent more space in apartment buildings. In 1893, Museum Boulevard No. 13 floors II and III are rented for students of mechanical engineering to provide for drawing rooms. In 1895-96 floor I is rented forthe same purpose. In 1896 Eszterházy Street No. 11 floor II, Kerepesi Road No. 17 floor III and all three floors of Kerepesi Road 9/b are rented and converted into drawing rooms. Based upon the number of students attending the Technical University in 1897-98, Budapest ranked third after Berlin and Munich. In 1897 this university had near 2000 students which lead to Samu Pecz being commissioned to design a 600 seat lecture theatre placed between the main building and the chemistry pavilion. This is know as the Gólyavár (Stork's Castle Freshers' Meeting Hall) and was built in a very short time for a modest budget. Due to the scattered nature of the classrooms, rented apartment buildings, laboratories and lack of practical training facilities, the institution could not meet the requirements of modern education, so negotiations were held to find the Technical University a new permanent site. (The Lágymányos University Campus history is described in separate chapters.) From 1906 to 1909, relocation took place to new buildings running parallel to the right, Buda bank of the Danube.
