Szablyár Péter: Sky-high - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2007)

buildings favourably enough even though there were critical remarks made by those whom the peculiar-looking hotel reminded of an industrial plant.

The upsurge of "high-rise-construction" sweeping across the country (the Pécs high-rise at 84 metres, the Szolnok tower block at 72, the Gyöngyös tower block at 70, the Újpalota tower block at 68, the Miskolc tower block at 63, the Veszprém tower block at 62, the Debrecen high-rise at 60 metres) left behind a row of somewhat provincial, Eastern-European "skyscrapers" meant to express the self-confidence of the all-new, "affirmative” and "progressive" age.

The design and construction companies of the counties regarded it as a cause of honour to build at least one high-rise at whatever cost. No shortage of space, high real estate prices, or even the perceived need to leave behind period markers by the rearrangement of architectural focal points justified the erection of these buildings. The only reason local potentates caused them to be put on their street- plans was to flaunt them as symbols of regional status and power. These "monuments” are living reminders of how the ideals of a particular age were conceived of with complete disregard for the given environment and the real needs of the people. The high-rise came to symbolise the victory of an ideology, to embody political power and emblematise the construction industry of socialism. Sky-high apartment blocks were followed by public buildings - the Block of Theoretical Medicine of Budapest's Medical School SOTE (89 metres) off Nagyvárad tér, the 73-metre high headquarters of the Pensions Bureau near the Pest end of Árpád Bridge, the Schönherz hall of students’ residence (67 metres) near Petőfi Bridge, and the headquarters of the Budapest Waterworks (61 metre) on Váci út.

Professional debates of an earlier period were rekindled in the early 1990s by the appearance on the scene of investors’ lobbies. Pursuing the highest possible rates of capital recovery, real-estate developers and property investors aimed for the construction of buildings whose mere existence demanded attention and attracted prospective buyers and renters. Battles fought for the relaxing of regulations curbing building heights in Budapest by now look back on an almost decade-long history. Legislation passed in 2002 set the upper limit at 55 metres. Slowly taking shape are the outlines of an amendment that would raise the limit to 60 or 65 metres in certain areas outside the Hungária Ring Road. In a comment on new edifices built in accordance with existing regulations, architect József Finta said that "Budapest is defaced by ugly dwarves when it could be beautified by slim giants."

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