Armuth Miklós - Lőrinczi Zsuzsa (szerk.): A Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem Történeti Campusa (Budapest, 2023)
A Fizikai épület - The Physics Building Kalmár Miklós
THE PHYSICS BUILDING 7 8 rrniTir.'j AZ F EPÜLET ELSŐ TERVE, 1897 THE FIRST PLAN OF THE F BUILDING, 1897 Designed by Győző Czigler, the Physics Building (F Building) was built from the autumn of 1904 till the autumn of 1906. Prior to this, several plan variations had been made. The architect's original concept was to have the main entrance to the physics pavilion housed in a closed opening to a public domain (Budafoki Street), in line with the laws of pavilion architecture. In the first version of his design, Czigler included an extra building for the purposes of the youth on the site of the present-day F Building, outside the physics pavilion. This scheme allocated 395 m2 useful floor area to the Department of Electrotechnics, 751 m2 for the Department of Experimental Physics and 350 m2 for the Department of Technical Physics. The surviving floor-plan of the first storey features the rooms belonging to the Department of Experimental Physics. In line with the configuration preferred by Czigler, each level of the building would have belonged to a department. Besides the laboratories, passages, corridors and restrooms only a couple of rooms would have been at the disposal of the lecturer and assistant here. The first plans of the physics pavilion were revised in 1904, just before the start of the construction works. (Its new blueprints bear the denomination "Electrotechnics and Physics Building".) Now the Department of Electrotechnics had 2000 m2, the Department of Experimental Phyiscs 1755 m2, the Department of Technical Physics 1465 m2 floor-space. Of the three proposals for revision submitted to the construction board this one allocated the smallest areas to the departments. In line with this, also the Department of Electrochemistry was to be housed here on an area of 625 m2. Transferring this department into the F Building was justified by its associations with electrotechnics and modest area demand, which meant it was more "adjustable" concerning the utilization of shared functions. Further extensions of the departments within this building was only viable at each other's expense. As a result of rapid technological developments, the increasing number of students challenged the ratio of the areas defined a decade earlier. The need for space increased by almost 20% even in the very last minutes, thus the areas of the departments were changed to 2305, 1939 and 2058 m2 respectively. Besides, an extra 785 m2was required by the Department of Electrochemistry. However, the budget allocated for the building remained the same, despite the increasing areas, which forced compromises regarding both the architectural responses and the equipment and furnishing of the rooms contained. In line with the new concept, Czigler designed a larger U shaped building including the three departments (Electrotechnics, Experimental Physics and Technical Physics) with a separate entrance and auditorium for each. Despite the increased areas required, however, the height of the two-storey building remained unchanged to keep to the design
