Ferkai András: Housing Estates - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2005)

Housing Estates after 1945

snug interior gardens are surrounded by five-storey blocks. That more attention was paid to the environment is indicated by the fact that the surrounding spaces were landscaped at the same time as the buildings were constructed.

It was a parting present of sorts: the architects were given one last chance to show what they could do with prefab slabs. Their performance was based on the next regular reconstruction of house factories. Series "E" of the prefab design made in House Factories Nos. i and 4 had been introduced at the beginning of the sixth Five Year Plan (1981—85). This system, allowing for a greater variety of floor plan and mass, was used with Stage II at Újpest, with the Kaszásdűlő and Pók utca housing estates (the latter two are possibly the most successful housing estates of the period). In Káposztásmegyer, series "If, as well as "E”, was used, the former having been developed for local purposes in the nearby House Factory No. 3. What changes were brought by these products? They provided for a freer combination of spaces within the flats designed. Attention was thus paid to the shape of the rooms; bathrooms were enlarged and separate dining rooms could be added. A wide variety of flats with well-designed floor plans were made available for the satisfaction of every possible demand. In the buildings of block "G", the whole gamut of flat-types was available from 36-square-metre studio flats to 124-square-metre ones occupying two levels meant for multi-generation families. With the removal of the enforced use of sections-i.e. the mechan■ Development plan 0} the Kápoizt átmegy er Homing Development, Stage I

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