Housing estates, brutalist high-rises and mosaics – we visited the iconic buildings of the 70s

We have entered three exciting houses that await you with open doors during the weekend of Budapest100. Time travel at three points in the capital.

We were able to enter three exciting houses, which await you with open doors Budapest100 on the weekend: we went up to the 16th floor of an apartment complex, admired a mosaic-covered apartment building on Bartók, and also visited the MTA’s lecture hall, which looks like a time capsule.

This year, Budapest100 celebrates the city’s late modern heritage, the buildings of the 1970s, between May 9 and 12. Take a look at the most exciting buildings of this year’s Budapest100 with us!

Due to their historical context, many people have a negative attitude towards the buildings of the socialist period, and many buildings that otherwise represent a serious architectural and cityscape value are in danger of being demolished. The purpose of this year’s Budapest100 theme selection is to start a dialogue about the architecture of the ’70s, and to make the late modern heritage closer and lovable to those interested.

The fact that there are many housing estates and panel buildings on the house list stems from the characteristics of the era. In many cases, these were born with the disappearance of important historical parts of the city, and they offered many people modern, comfortable housing.

The first stop of our walk was such a housing estate. Located in the heart of the city, the Szigony utca housing estate was built on the site of dilapidated, comfortless apartment buildings. We learned from Budapest100 volunteers that the entire outer Józsefváros would have been incorporated based on the megalomaniac plans of the 70s. However, due to a lack of resources, only a part of this was realized, the housing estate still standing here today.

We tend to romanticize turn-of-the-century tenements and speak disparagingly of dirty, ugly housing estates. However, the volunteers drew our attention to the fact that the housing estates of the ’70s were much more suitable for the lower middle class in terms of their functional layout. In that era, the reception of the panels was positive, and many people wanted to get an apartment in these comfortable buildings.

The aspiration to make the housing estate livable and nicer for the people living here is still there today. This is also reflected in the increase in the proportion of giant fire wall paintings and green areas.

By the way, the 16-story, 192-apartment tower blocks here are not made of panels, but of mixed technology: the facade is prefabricated bark panel, the support structure and partitions are made of on-site concrete.

Our volunteers also took us up to the top floor. A nice resident even let us out on his balcony so that we could enjoy the breathtaking view.

During the weekend of Budapest100, the programs of the Práter utca 56 panel house include building tours, and there will also be a concert and film screening on the roof.

From the housing estate, we headed to Béla Bartók’s apartment building 48. The iconic restaurants of the area, Négy Évszak, Borostyán, and then Ketter, used to stand on the site of the building. The Bucharest restaurant, built on a former garden space, now operates as a bank branch.

The eight-story corner house was handed over in 1972 on the corner of Bartók and Lágymányosi streets. Lottery winners were given apartments on the top floor.

At that time, designers and builders worked with a very minimal budget. There was neither money nor need to decorate the houses. However

Újbuda is a good example of the playful face of post-war modernity.

Bartók’s 48 volunteers pointed out that they tried to smuggle a little playfulness into this building in its simplicity. One of the decorative elements is the white glass mosaics, which are mixed with red mosaic cubes. Also, we could also discover the characteristic decorative element of the period, the hip-high ornamental brick at the bottom of the house.

This topic revolves around the Playful modern Újbuda walk, whose last stop on the day of the walk will be Bartók 48. During the Budapest100 weekend, there will be a building history exhibition here, you can see the view from the roof and talk to the elderly residents.

The last location of our walk was the MTA Research House next to Budaörsi út, which I think is the ugliest building in Budapest. That’s why I was really looking forward to the tour of the building to find out what interesting details it hides.

The 15-story tower building with laboratories and research rooms was completed in 1975 as the joint home of the five units of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is covered with a total of 1,006 individual reinforced concrete panels.

The building has three sections. The offices and research rooms were on the Budaörsi út side, and the laboratories on the side facing Sashegy, and the corridor stretches between them.

During the tour, we took the elevator up to the top floor. We also looked around two offices for rent and discovered a window support that is as old as the house. Some rooms still have built-in hand sinks from the time when these rooms functioned as laboratories.

A four-story service block also belongs to the MTA Research Building. Here we were able to enter the country’s first deaf room designed for acoustic research.

It was quite a surreal experience to stand on the flexible floor like a trampoline, between the walls with a special yellow design.

We ended our walk in a performer that, by today’s eyes, is already a time capsule. Leather, yellow velvet and wood panels are almost the quintessence of the ’70s. The pattern decorating the columns, on the other hand, is so modern that it would fit in any building designed today

If you would also like to see the building from the inside, you can do so during the weekend of Budapest100, however, the tour of the building requires registration.

All programs of Budapest100 are free. The four-day series of events begins with a professional day on May 9, continues with a walking day on May 10, and ends with the weekend of traditional open houses on May 11-12.

This year, 36 buildings will join the Budapest100. In addition to numerous residential buildings and housing estates, visitors are also welcomed by universities, funeral homes and even observatories. Also, for the first time this year, you will have the opportunity to address the architects and designers of the houses, the first movers in the apartment buildings, and the first employees of the institutions.

You can find out about the detailed programs on the Budapest100 page, and you can also get the printed program booklet at the Center for Contemporary Architecture and the Blinken OSA Archive.