F. Mentényi Klára szerk.: Műemlékvédelmi Szemle 1992/2. szám Az Országos Műemléki Felügyelőség tájékoztatója (Budapest, 1992)

KIÁLLÍTÁS - Summary

SUMMARY György SZŰCS: Architecture and planning in Hungary between 1945—1956 The exhibiton aimed at presenting the different tendencies which were present in Hungarian architectural planning in the years following World War II, calling attention to the contradicting between the architectural ideas and the ideological expectations of ruling political forces. While emphases on the Soviet example remained a permanent motive, the search for a national style is also apparent — the latter seeking its roots in Classicism. Many of the buildings echo the characteristic collonade-tympanum tradition (Zoltán Farkasdy and his team: School of the Decorative and Applied Arts, 1953). Others voted for the condemned cosmopolitan "modernism" trying to conceal their choice by the application of traditional facade decoration — a new Historicism that gained ground after the memorable grand dispute on the role of architecture in 1951. The after war renovations allowed the rebuilding or new erection of whole districts, thus creating the 'rationalised' modem socialist townscape. (Sztálinváros, 1953) Of the grand scale construction the Peoples' Stadium must be mentioned (Károly Dávid and team, 1953) and the launching of the Metro project, the interior architecture of which would have been sampled on that of the Moscow metro system The scheme never got realised. The catalogue that was issued to accompany the exhibition presents studies on practice and ideology (Endre Prakfalvi), on the influence of vernacular architecture and the development of the vulage (András Hadik), and monument preservation of the time (Anna Kaiser). Pál Ritoók published a selection of documentary photographs (e.g., the Soviet architect Jofan among Hungarian colleagues), Virág Hajdú presents decorative schulpture by Gábor Boda: the Hungarian ideal for the soldier, based on historic archetypes. László Császár's recollections and Péter Molnár's moral meditations help us to better understanding of the epoch. In the Appendices of the volume there is a study on the construction of the Palace of the Soviets, the grand symbol of the time, by Péter Siklós. Both the exhibition and the very well edited catalogue testify to the realisation that Socialist Realistic architecture in Hungary was far from being either without character or schematic, yet it never went to extremes.