Műemlékállományunk bővülése, új műemlékfajták (Az Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1987 Eger, 1987)

Nováki Gyula: Őskori és középkori földvárak Magyarországon

estates and cave dwellings are very new categories indeed. In the case of the former, they are important because of what they tell us about the development of urban planning. In general, these estates consist of one or two standardized buildings, and it is as a whole that they are considered to be of interest. Some of our best examples, such as the Gas Factory Estate in Óbuda, or the Factory Estate in Győr are not only pleasant, but were modern for their time and still provide an agréable environment to live in. The Wekerle Estate in Budapest is of particular interest from this point of view, although not designed for workers. The cave dwellings in the north of Hungary and near Budafok have also become monuments, as is the case with historic sites. These are the sites of important events, or buildings that remind us of important people. Some would say that the conservation of modern buildings is a totally separate field from the rest, demanding the employment of different criteria from old buildings. Finally, the enlargement of the notion of the historic monument has forced us to reject the view that historic monuments should only be protected globally. Even if a whole building doesn't deserve preservation, individual details; gates, gateways, portals, and ornamentation may. How much has disappeared as a result of a lack of interest in these details; street lamps, benches, railings, telephone booths, kiosks, in fact all kinds of street furniture, objects never listed and at best retained within conservation areas. Let me finally mention something else. Our view of conservation is much wider in its scope that it used to be, but we must be careful not to confuse the preservation of our architectural heritage with nostaliga. We protect things because individual people, the inhabitants let's say of Eger or Budapest, Hungarians and people in general feal that they form an important part of their identity. The objective expression of historic facts and aesthetic struggles. What is more, it is more significant and permanent that mere nostalgia, which is simply an emotional fashion. If we feel that a building or a stretch of iron railings deserve protection, we are conserving our architectural heritage. If we dream up a lamp that was never there, or a bit of pastiche, this is not conservation; we are simply following a fashion. This is a bad accompaniment to preservation, something that is becoming increasingly standard practice. We are pleased though if it is dangers of this kind that we are faced and not the old ones.