XX. századi műemlékek és védelmük (A 26. Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1996 Eger, 1996)

Előadások: - Sztálinváros – the Hungarian paradigm of socialist urban vision

party headquarters. Weiner also took into consideration the problem in having earlier emphasised the importance of the 70 metre high spire of the Tanácsháza (Town Hall) within the ,,skyline". He explained that although the Party headquarters opposite was considerably smaller, the ideological content of the headquarters could not be expressed in form or physical size. In contrast to the L-shaped plan of the Town Hall and the Palace of Culture, the party headquarters, as an independent plastic mass placed in the centre in the manner of a Greek Temple, able to be viewed from all sides, attempted to express its special importance. Even so, in 1952 Weiner also produced an alternative design which integrated the building within a larger unity. The general plan and the critical reception of the time gave architectural emphasis to the importance of the closure of the western side of the town — a pseudo city wall — as well: ,,the bastion-like articulation of the perimeter residential-blocks gave a feeling of strength and security". The Eastern side of the town is enclosure by the Danube. The design of the main square reached its peak in April 1953. In the May 1953 version a ,,Moscow" style became apparent. In connection with this, the Politburo stated their ,,agreement with a solution which emphasises the tower, however it should be proved that this should be a truly artistic creation crowning the square, rather than something box-like". From a functional and aesthetic point of view the massing of the elements for the public buildings in the main square (Party Headquarters, Town Hall, Palace of Culture etc.) was merely a „Variation" game. Following Stalin's death (5

th of March 1953), the conviction of Berija (July 1953) and the election of Chrushev as first secretary (September), plans drawn up in late 1953 — early 1954 indicated the place previously earmarked for Stalin's statue as occupied by the Palace of Culture. For an intellectual and stylistic lesson it is worthwhile referring to the explanation which accompanied the plans of May 1953: , ,The main square is the centre of community life in Sztálinváros... it should reflect the background of the towns development and should be characteristic of the atmosphere of the town as well.

.. The statue of Comrade Stalin, worthy of this forever-living figure.

.. should be the central element for the composition of the entire town... The strongest structural-axis is represented by the route connecting the town-centre and the factory.

.. which appears as an 85m wide avenue and a 35m wide landscaped pedestrian strip complete with a row of Stahanovist (Hereoes of the Productivity Competitions) statues... The „highrise" (i.e. approx. 10 storey) Town Hall... is at the same time a memorial... it carries the ideas of our Socialist architecture and in its symbolism express the state-order of our peoples democracy. In this sense the gigantic corner columns of the tower raise an emblem depicting allegorical figures of the worker and the peasant defending our national coat of arms above the dynamic main-cornice to a height of over fifty metres... The Main-square... the architectural composition of the enclosure, adopting and developing late Baroque prototypes and forms of Hungarian folk-art... the use of segmented arches — all form parts of an experiment. The traditional towers of church architecture or towers of historic cities were inappropriate as sources... because the size of the tower in Sztálinváros does not guarantee the qualitative development which the Soviet towers give witness to (referring to the Soviet ,,skyscrapers" or Stalin towers). The giant order of comer columns which binds together the entire tower is a closer approximation of the intellectual expression of the tower." At this stage it is worth adding to this evaluation the opinion of a Hungarian theoretician of architecture, Máté Major: „Society invests in architecture/art (superstructure" in Marxist ideology), the task of propagating the ideology and protecting its foundation and in accordance the