Armuth Miklós - Lőrinczi Zsuzsa (szerk.): A Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem Történeti Campusa (Budapest, 2023)
A Mechanikai Technológia épülete - The Mechanical Technology Building Frey György Péter
1 9 0 CD 2 CO Used by Pecz in his design work as a rule, the method of "building by moving from inside to outside” is reflected by the MT Building as well. The northern facade features odd-numbered opening axes which is unusual as it means there is no central axis. Flanked by corner projections, this main facade is articulated by segment-headed windows. Upsetting the symmetry of the facade design, the main entrance is positioned on the right-hand side projection. During World War II the building and its furnishings were seriously damaged, the glass panes of the doors and windows destroyed by explosions. Reconstruction was launched in 1947. In 1948 a boathouse was built on the eastern side of the hall for the purposes of the Rowing Club of the University of Technology. Designed by László Széli, it was a temporary annex with semi-gable roof, masonry with wooden ceiling and asphalt roofing. The boathouse was converted into a laboratory and workshop in the 1950s and then demolished in 2003. Between 1956 and 1958 an extension to the boiler-room and engine-house was added to the northern side of MT Building for the purposes of the Department of Textile Technology founded after 1949. By integrating the Departments of Electrical Engineering Materials Science and Mechanical Technology in 1970 the new Institute of Mechanical Technology and Materials Science was founded and thus large-scale plans were conceived to extend the building. In 1972, and then in 1975 again, the integration of the laboratories was put on the agenda. A new wing was to be built to extend the eastern side of the hall building. According to the first concept, which remained in blueprint, it would have been a twostorey flat-roof light-structure building with large metal-frame windows and sandwich-like parapet with aluminium-cladding. The second plan, which is yet another one never realised, would have been a five-storey flat-roof wing with a central corridor and monolythic R-C skeleton featuring a curtain-wall facade designed by Iván Krancsey. During the comprehensive reconstruction project between 2007 and 2011 MT Building was essentially restored to its original design. The rapid evolution of technologies and educational methodologies required continuous interior remodelling of the building. All throughout these interventions, the original architectural concept of Samu Pecz were successfully preserved, whilst the building has met the changing demands and expectations of its users ever since.
