Tanulmányok Budapest Múltjából 28. (1999) – Urbanizáció a dualizmus korában: konferencia Budapest egyesítésének 125. évfordulója tiszteletére a Budapesti Történeti Múzeumban

A VÁROS KULTURÁLIS ÉLETE ÉS A POLGÁROK - Gergely Katalin: Lakóhely és életminőség a századfordulón 295-301

KATALIN GERGELY HOUSING AND THE QUALITY OF LIVING AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY HOUSING CONSTRUCTION MODELS IN BUDAPEST IN THE 1910'

S SUMMARY Due to capitalization and urbanization, Budapest grew into a true city in the interval between the unification and WW I, and became the leader of both the spiritual and economic life of the country. The job opportunities provided by the city development drew huge masses to the capital, but the city could not provide housing for all these people in the necessary amount or suitable quality. The housing shortage which came about could not be solved even with various sub-lets, nightlodgings, basement homes or mass-dormitories. According to statistics of the time, half of the population lived in oneroom apartments, and more than 300,000 people lived together with more than 4 people in the same apartment. The housing demands of civil servants, the lower-middle class, and employee and factory workers were the most critical in needing a solution. I would like to present the various housing construction projects in the 1910's through three models: (1) Small-apartment housing-estates. The pre-planned and determined municipal politics are linked with mayor István Bárczy, who considered it his main task to solve the housing problem of the capital from the very start of his term of office ( 1906). 6,120 small apartments were built within the framework of the Small-Apartment Construction program, initiated by Bárczy between 1

909 and 1913, the majority of which were constructed on estates. Most of the small apartments had one room, and were built with rapid and economical architectural solutions. The small apartment estate on Százados Street was also built within the same project between 1908 and 1910. (2) Colonies. The creation of worker apartments was carried out by major factories and plants, such as the Ganz factory, MÁV, Mávag and Óbuda Gas Works, the purpose of which was to ensure permanent workers for the factory by providing housing opportunities. The blue collar and white collar estates of the Óbuda Gas Works, established between 1910 and 1913, are an example of this kind of colony. It comprises two types of estates: an inner estate with three-four-bedroom apartments built for the factory officials and high-ranking technical experts, and an outer estate consisting of 78 two-bedroom and 14 one-bedroom apartments, built for the workers. (3) Villa estates. The third model is the Small Svab Hill (Kis-Svábhegy) Estate for Judges and Attorneys. The National Judge and Attorney Association initiated the construction of a villa estate on the south-eastern slope of Small Svab Hill. The estate was built between 1911 and 1913, and constituted the first organized villa construction in Budapest. The villas, which follow the pattern of English detached houses and bear the architectural style of both art nouveau and Transylanian folk architecture, were designed and executed by Aladár Arkay. Along with various individual (outdoor) designs, the European villa construction generally produced one-story, English-type house models with well-functioning interior designs. All three models, but especially the first two housing types, are different from villages, small towns, districts or parts of cities, in aspects such as the constructed environment and the life style, along with the attitude and the quality of living. All three estates provide homes for various communities, which are formed on a territorial basis and consist of people who come from the same social strata. The various estates, as a framework for all the homes, greatly determine the life style and the quality of life of its residents. 301