Gerle János: Palaces of Money - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1994)

to have been associated with the kind of task in question. Lechner’s two plans were the only exceptions, either of which could have been a world sensation if realised.

Aspirations to have the architectonic form properly express the building’s function resulted in the inflation of the major motifs beyond any human scale. The stylistic and conceptual prototype of Alpár’s design may well have been the Palace of Justice in Brussels, which was meant to proclaim the powerful equity of the modem state in such a manner that the proportions of the building struck those entering it to the ground. The construction of this edifice, which challenges the pyramids with its size, was made possible by pillaging the colonies-an act naturally seen as equitable.

With the construction of the Budapest Exchange an important consideration involved finding the economic resources (the work was financed by mortgage loans from three banks), and yet the entrance, the exchange halls, the corridors by the cloakrooms and the central vaulted hall were built in a distorted scale, something meant to demonstrate the power of money. However, numerous functionally and technically superior features were installed, which can now only be appreciated in old descriptions due to continuous ruthless reconstruction, necessitated by the building’s radically altered function. The Exchange was built on a 145X61 metre ground space in exactly three years’ time by the construction company of the Grünwald brothers and Miksa Schiffer, who managed to stay within the original budget of 4.4 million koronás (and even save 120,000 koronás!). Investment costs came to 20.78 koronás per cubic metre, which fell far short of the average price of public construction at the time.

There are two particulars in which Alpár’s building differs from the major Exchange Palaces of Europe. Rather than locating the exchange halls in the middle of the building to provide upper or basilica-type lighting, Alpár placed them at the two ends of the facade where light comes in through windows giving on to the street. It was also unorthodox to have these halls on the first floor, where there is more light. A coffee house opened underneath the Stock Exchange on the southern side, while the space below the Corn Exchange on the north was occupied by a post office. The two halls had a combined floorspace of 1,300 square metres and their inner height was 19 metres (the equivalent of a six- storey building). A guide book to the building published

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