Armuth Miklós - Lőrinczi Zsuzsa (szerk.): A Budapesti Műszaki és Gazdaságtudományi Egyetem Történeti Campusa (Budapest, 2023)
A Könyvtár épülete - The Library Building Gy. Balogh Ágnes
1 U 2 er < glass painter of the imperial and royal court then. His final invoice forthis project dates from November 24th, 1909, including the window panels of the reading hall and the foyer, as well as the rose-window of the pediment. The store was furnished with rows of twosided steel-frame bookstands along the axis of the R-C pillars manufactured by the Budapest-based Schlick's Iron Foundry and Machine Factory Co. as standard structures after a patent by Pál Erdélyi, an university librarian from Kolozsvár. As an innovative solution, the 1 metre shelves could be hung on the stands fixed to the ceiling and were moveable and rearrangeable even when loaded with books. The building including the final furnishing was completed in 1909. In the same year the collection of books stored in the "old" archivfelvételíarchive photograph, 1909 building of the university on Múzeum Boulevard was moved into the new building. With its budget of 800.000 Hungarian Crowns and high-standards the project was rated as an exemplary and economical one. On its completion the Library Building ranked amongst the most modern ones in Central Europe. On May 25th, 1910 the keystone laying ceremony was held in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph. To commemorate the royal visit, Count Károly Khuen-Héderváry, then Prime Minister, donated the University of Technology a sculpture portraying the royal couple, King Franz Joseph and Queen Elizabeth made of Carrara marble. This 6 m tall art-piece made by Antal Szécsi, sculptorand lecturer of the University of Technology was originally meant for the central cupola hall of the Parliament building, but as it had not been installed there, it was housed in the foyer of the Library opposite the entrance. The plinth of this sculpture was designed by Imre Steindl, also a lecturer of the university. Before raising the plinth a brick pillarto support the floor beneath it in the cellarwas built. Although the licensing plan had not contained it yet, the idea of a secco to grace the southern wall of the students' reading hall was mentioned during the realisation phase. For this purpose a thick wire-mesh frame was built to include the secco. Documents and studies concerning the history of the Library mention this mural as a fresco, but later research provees that it was actually a secco (a mural painted on dry plaster with paint containing glue or other adhesives, which is less durable than frescos) was made, which was completed after three years' work by 1913 by the artist, Dezső Rakssányi, a lecturer of the fine arts college, who contributed to the project free of charge. This secco, 12 m wide and 8 m tall, represented the technical evolution of mankind from the antiquity to 1910 portraying prominent figures of sciences and technology, scientist and artists in period clothes with Renaissance architectural settings.
