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

...it is apparent from this that the objective of modern architecture cannot be the invention of new forms just for fun, and that it should not deviate a hair’s breath from expediency for the sake of satisfying such ambitions, because the increasing demands of this age do not allow, in a work with as serious a function as that of a building, for deviations lighter than fashion itself and having the importance of a mere episode in the history of culture.

With the exception of two large groups of sculptures flanking a balcony, all sculptural ornamentation on the facade were made by the loyal Géza Maróti; the figures embodying Science and Beauty are the creations of Ödön Moiret, while the allegories of Agriculture and Viniculture were sculpted by Ede Teles. The 28 month period of construction from 1910 was felt to be far too long by contemporaries. The reason was the fact that the two-storey vaults required the excavation of deep cellars which reached down below the level of the Danube. (The building is today the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance.)

The Hungarian Agrarian Bonds Bank

This building, designed by Albert Kőrössy and Géza Kiss, was completed in 1912. Of all the banks in Budapest, this one is closest in appearance to Italian Renaissance prototypes with its enormous broad stones

The foyer of the management offices on the upper floor

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