Prakfalvi Endre: Architecture of Dictatorship. The Architecture of Budapest between 1945 and 1959 - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1999)

not an outstanding work of architectural design, but the building attained tragic fame when it came under attack in October 1956 (reconstruction plans by Pál Vince, 1954- 55).

In late 1954, Soviet leader N. S. Khrushchev addressed the conference of the construction industry, discussing new methods used by Soviet builders, the improvement of quality standards, the bold exposure of “errors” and the reduction of expenses. Hungary’s architects derived much encouragement from the first secretary’s speech in their bid to abandon Socialist Realism, the only real practice of the recent past. It is hard to give a precise appraisal of the extent to which Hungary’s architecture was influenced by Khrushchev’s intervention, but it is certain to have been a handy reference. In any case, Máté Major emphasised the (comparative) independence of Hungary’s architecture, arguing that the works it had so far created could only be recognised as representatives of Socialist Realism with reservations. Tibor Weiner, on the other hand, maintained that what had come into being was Socialist Realism itself. (Maybe they were both right in their own ways.) The polemic can be seen as a conclusion to the controversies of the period.

From 1955, Oszkár Kaufmann worked on the designs of the Madách theatre (31 Erzsébet körút, district VII) in association with Ottó Fábry and Pál Mináry (inauguration in 1961). With sculptures by József Somogyi, Gyula Kiss Kovács and Jenő Kerényi and the contradictory effect of the entrance and 'the window surfaces, the five-axis fagade is a unique blend of Socialist Realist and Modernist traits.

The changes manifested themselves in several locations. One of these “scenes” was the üllői út housing development in an area formerly occupied by the Mária Valéria estate to the left of the main road leading to Ferihegy Airport. Construction work began in late 1955. Head designer Emil Zöldy could now cite western models - readymade designs for flats featuring a kitchenette accessible from the living room. In recognition of the “extraordinary” urgency of the project, skeletal supports were prefabricated en masse. (Here as elsewhere, too, quantitative requirements prevented designers from satisfying the perfectly reasonable demand of increasing the flats’ floorspace.)

In one type of flat a washing cubicle equipped with an 85 centimetre by 85 by 65 tub replaced the bathroom. Introducing his own work, Emil Zöldy wasted no time on

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