Földes Mária: Ornamentation - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1993)
architect, to the builder, the sculptor, the stone-carver and the painter. We hope that the walk will be a source of joy and pleasure and will prompt the visitor to further explore the city. We also hope that these aesthetic buildings-some of which may be somewhat showy, others more conservative, but all characteristic of the age-will survive. Many of them have by now disappeared; the remaining should not be allowed to go to ruin. Their exquisite ornamentation should not be ruined or altered beyond recognition. The varied cityscape, which may be similar to many other Central European metropolises from afar, and yet unique in its detail, and characteristic only of Budapest, should endure. If the present decay is to continue, the buildings of the turn of the century will vanish, and our lives will be emptier, soulless, and dull. We hope that by the time you reach the end of your walk, you will be of the same opinion. Let us start from one of the most spectacular and perhaps best known buildings, from the so-called Parisian Arcade (Párisi-udvar, at no. 5 Ferenciek tere). The name only refers to one part of the building. The well- liked meeting place was built on one of the most beautiful, and in its time most expensive, corner plots of the city between 1909 and 1913. Originally it housed the offices of the Central City Savings Bank and some apartments. The plot gained its present size with the construction of Elizabeth Bridge, and the area planning that went with it, involving the demolition of the old Parisian Arcade. That was named after the row of little shops which connected the old Kígyó tér (Snake Square) and Párisi utca (Paris Street), which name, in turn, was inherited by the building erected in its place. It was designed by the German-born Henrik Schmahl, who had worked as a master mason on construction sites under the famous architect Miklós Ybl. Later on, due to his skills and talent, he was able to introduce himself as a designer in his own right, and his memory is kept alive by numerous apartment blocks and villas in Budapest. Master Schmahl had a predilection for historical styles, particularly the Venetian Gothic, and the rich forms of the Italian Renaissance. While travelling in Spain, he came under the spell of Arabic-Moorish architecture, 10
