Szablyár Péter: Sky-high - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2007)

Water Towers

edifice, accessible from Csokonai utca, stands guard to the memory of its onetime owner, the old National Theatre, a building that was demolished in 1964. Housed in the tower for a while were the workshops where stage sets were assembled. Later on an export-import company moved into it, this to be followed by another firm specialising in software technology.

The tower was built at the end of the 19th century for dual functions. It was to provide large quantities of water used partly by the hydraulic system moving stage mechanisms and partly by the safety fire-sprinklers. The building was designed by József Kauser and Hugó Máltás.

A lift was installed into the shaft originally housing the water pipes in the axis of the tower, by now deprived of its original functions. In the staircase around this, the visitor can study the history of the building with the help of archival documents on display.

The conference room arranged in what used to be a 15-cubic-metre reservoir now offers a perfect panoramic view of the Pest roofs, the Buda hills, and the rows of cars crawling along Rákóczi út in the direction of Elisabeth Bridge or Baross tér. It is a captivating sight; regretfully, only a privileged few can admire it.

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