Szablyár Péter: Step by step - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2010)

Steps to our bellies - from the Central Market Hall to Lehel tér

handling area in the basement via tunnels from the Danube bank. The latest reconstruction of the hall was carried out in 1991—94, according to plans made by VÁT1 Hungarian Nonprofit Limited Liability Company. The painstakingly executed reconstruction restored the building to its original splendour while enabling it to cater for the regular customers and the curious tourists at the same time as satisfying all contemporary requirements of modern conveniences. In 1999 the building was awarded the Prix d’Excellence of FIABCI (Föderation Internationale des Administrateurs de Biens et Conseils Immobiliers) in fitting recognition of its renewal.

Stairs in the hall of "radical Eclecticism”

It was designer László Rajk himself who summed up the style of the new Lehel Market in these words. After the peculiar new building was opened, sentiments ran wild, especially within the architectural community. It suggests a boat full of grocery produce. The controversy soon died down with the public taking to the hall, accepting it as a home of their own. After all, the building remained what it had

■ Rajk’s cascading stairs in the Lehel Market Hall

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