Kiss Katalin: Industrial Monuments - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)
Dr. Szilárd Zielinski. He was on good terms with the French engineer and inventor Francois Hennebique, who had popularized the advantages of monolithic reinforced concrete structures since the French World Expo of 1900. Zielinski determined the dimensions of the columns supporting the water tank using Hennebique’s method. They are 13.5 metres high at the buttressing points, the tank is at a height of 33 metres, and its wall thickness is only 10 centimetres. In 1911 the water tower stood ready. Its designer utilised well the advantages of a water tower with those of a look-out tower. The building recalls the memory of the Habsburg Empire, but we can also feel the pride the structural engineer must have felt with the miracle of his creation. The water tower has already lost its original function. The tank has been partly demolished, and a restaurant was constructed in its place. However, the plate under the tank could not be demolished, because it was built together with the tower structure. The inner rooms of the body of the tower sometimes serve for exhibitions of contemporary art. However, given the lack of a lift and heating, it is usually only younger visitors who make the climb. The former Vizafogó Railway Station XIII, Esztergomi utca 38 When walking around one of the youngest estates of Budapest, we can catch sight with surprise of an orphan building, standing as if it were forgotten. The builders finished their work and went away. The life of the surroundings goes on with an animated rhythm, the shop doorways are flashy with neon lights of various violet colours. The majority of the “natives” shake their heads when asked about the solitary building. They think it will soon be demolished and a school or a library built in its place. Many years ago, a railway line ran by the side of this station. We can still see the tracks today near the northern side of Árpád Bridge. The building represents the oldest type of station erected by the Hungarian State Railways. In 1876 the HSR systematized and cat51
