Budapest
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Guide to the Top 4 places in the town to appreciate the beauty of Magyar Szecessziò
Introduction At the beginning of the twentieth century, Budapest developed its own concept of Art Noveau, in a way so rich that it has nothing to envy Vienna. Styles, influences by Eastern Art and local folk Art all confluxed into what was named Magyar Szecessiò. The purpose of this short guide is to illustrate which are, in the writer's opinion, the most suggestive places where you can meet the spirit of the Movement. Just four of them were chosen, but the list definitely goes on and on.
Layout, photos and text by: Dozio Fabio Matteo 2013 Š
It would be terribly uncorrect, though, to stop the research to the buildings mentioned here; a careful eye will meet the Szecessziò everywhere, just because its reminiscenses are everywhere. From the whirls carved onto a balcony balustrade to the floreal whirls in the fonts of shop banners; from the flat, desaturated-tint illustration in some pubs, to the richness of colours and materials of several buildings. The City evolves through the pulsions of modernity, but never abandons its roots.
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The real question about PDS should be: true Art Noveau relic or retrò commercial expedient?
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Addrassy utca 39 (dist. 7) Nearby metro stations: Oktogon, Opera
Parisi Nagy Aruhaz is an elegant mall situated on the evergreen Addràssy utca, which crosses Oktogon tram station. You can tell a lot about its story already from the facade: an imponent wall of grey-ish stone, elegantly designed in a style that tastes both of Secession and of 19th century France. The name of the building is carved into big, squared letters, while an Art Noveaulike Manifesto on the side of the doors welcomes visitors to enter first department store to be ever built in Budapest. The ground floor hosts Alexandra bookstore, a very large catalogue of possibly everything published in the latest times; when you'll be done with the quest for your favourite novel, you can stop and have a taste of wine or, if gluttony is in your qualities, joy in front of an entire stand dedicated to exquisite candies (mostly Italian's finest pastiglie Leone). Then take the stairs and let yourself be astonished by the beauty of the first floor, where the Lotz Hall will blow your mind with the richness of its content,
1. Paris Department Store
Left: the facade of Paris Department Store. Above: Manifesto welcoming visitors at the entrance.
Parisi Nagy Aruhàz
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So ... Given that you can find almost such variety of content in PDS, what can you actually not find there? I'd dare to say that the answer is... a bit of sincere Magyar Szecessziò spirit. Sure, you get fascinated by the taste of the bulding from the external and you're excited to enter into the past, but the content inside happens to be not as much 1910-1920s, "diluted" as it is by the myriad of products and catchy lights in the bookshop. You can find some hints of floreal lines and Noveau fonts here and there, but not something that comes to your eyes that clearly. Not claiming that it should follow totally the line of a retrò simulation- it would be an ingenous wish. But a bit more of care towards intern/extern coherence could surely make it even more unique (a real experience) and enhance visits furtherly.
restaurated to its original form in 2009. Extended frescos on the ceiling, inlays on the wall, everything bathed in gold: although not as witty as Art Noveau, Neo-Renaissance style is nothing to scoff at. The room also works as a Cafè/restaurant, offering a lot of choice between dishes and desserts. Perhaps this is the part of the whole PDS where time seems to have stopped the most, a really elegant atmosphere given by the quality of the environment. One more stair up, and we reach the peak (in all senses): an extended art gallery fills the second floor; colours are everywhere, in a mixture of delicated materials and surfaces. Everyone here contemplates in silence the beauty of Hungary's (and not only) best artists creations: from Matisseresembling figures of women painted on oil to Marvel comics-flavoured tables, from white teapot in ceramics to Baroque chairs, from shaped forms of blown glass to sculptures, and much more. And if you want to rest a bit, a good terrace will give you a beautiful view on the street beneath. Above: the rich, gold-like architectural ceiling of the Lotz Hall, where it's possible to stare at the frescos while tasting an exquisite buffèè. Below: 3 floors-view of the building.
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QUICK REVIEW Artistic value: 7/10 Accessibility: 10/10 Art Noveau content: 6/10 Inner organization: 8/10 Overall: 8/10
Above: the intern of the Art Gallery on the last floor, where you'll find many beautiful portraits for sale.
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2. Museum of Art and Design Ipamùveszèti Mùzeum
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Ullöi utca 33-37 (dist. 7) Nearby metro stations: Corvin Negyed, (metro line 3)
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Triumph of stylistic mixture, symmetric pleasure of form and colour to the eyes.
styles, starting with typical Hungarian folk Art and Viennese secession to elements and forms from Hindu and Islam tradition; you can feel it already from the facade, with its rich mixture of golds and greens above dense patterns of ochercoloured bricks. Everywhere, the surfaces are defined by curvy, winding lines that fully taste like Art Noveau; ornaments and floreal-themed mosaics dictate rhytms, creating a harmonic and simmetric pleasure.
Ullői utca hosts one of the most stunning views in the whole Budapest artistic panorama: the Ipamuveszèti Muzèum. Reach the Corvin Negyed metro station, turn the corner and let yourself lose your breath in front of such magnitude.
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Testament left by "Hungarian Gaudi" Odon Lechner between 1893 and 1896 in collaboration with fellow Gyula Partos, the building is one of the cornerstones of hungarian architecture. It draws from a mixture of different
Talking about simmetry, it is the striking element of the interns as well (even the logo). You get in through a little corridor and you find other red mosaics, yellow handrails and stairs; everything equally repeated among left and right. You get further, and your eyes are immediately stuck on a wide hall, where piles of concave/convex shapes alternate to create a beautiful view. Void is perfectly balanced with fills, windows being shaped and paced by richlydecorated white colums in both two floors, up to a glass-like ceiling. Page on the left: one of the sides tower of the Museum, and below the intern of the main hall. Above: logo of the museum and sculpture of Odon Lechnel (1945-1914), situated in the garden next to the entrance.
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Plants are carved everywhere, in complex dispositions; redundancy and modularity are, once again, uncontested queens. The Museum offers a lot of different things to see, including a rich collection of European decorative arts arranged basing on their material/function (furniture, textiles, metalwork, ceramics, glass) and a public library. Moreover, the building is divided into two branches: the Hopp Ferenc Museum of Eastern Asiatic Arts and the NagytĂŠtĂŠny Castle Museum. Several events are held there, among which the Decorative Arts Fair attracts a great number of visitors. If you were to visit the city in the period of March, Jund, October and/or December, watch out for this occasion, it is well worth it. Budapest's most expert designers and craftsmen gather to sell their creations; you can buy everything, from bracelets and necklaces to coats, elegant dresses, hats, toys for children and games for the mind. They're all seasonal, and, even in the latter cases, all handmade. Once again, refined materials, patterns and vivid colours are common features. The prices are obviously a bit high, but it's a good tradeoff for the overall quality.
Other pieces of hungarian folk art are located into other rooms, still richly decorated with floreal lines and widely ranging from glossy to matte, from gold to red, from majolics to ceramics to brass. To sum it up: richness of content and tradition pouring from everywhere. If you want to discover more about the (sensorial) qualities of Magyar Scezessio, this is definitely the place to go, you'll enjoy every single piece.
But there's more; during this Fair, upstairs you can find a collection of the most exquisite needleworks belonging to hungarian tradition in embroidery from the last century. Several subjects (from Catholic crosses to saints to animals) weaved with supreme mastery (and patience), accompanied by historical and biographical notes. The format of those works is always circular, and-guess what?- the simmetry displayed is amazing.
Above: pattern show on one of the columns near the main entrance. Below: statue of Hungarian warrior, inside the building.
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QUICK REVIEW Artistic value: 10/10 Accessibility: 10/10 Above: patterns and simmetries in some of the elements you can find in the IMM. Clockwise: two needleworks and a mosaic on the pavement outisde the entrance.
Art Noveau content: 9/10 Inner organization: 9/10 Overall: 9.5/10
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Honvèd utca 3 (dist. 5) Nearby metro stations: Kossuth Lajos, Arany Janos
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Ceramics, teapots, statues, chairs, wardrobes, peacocks: so much material you can't even conceive it
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At the beginning of Honvèd Utca in Pest, not far from the Duna, there's a little house painted in pastel green, with curvy geometries and floreal motifs: it is the Bedo Hàza, built by architect Vidor Emil in 1903 with an inspiration from Jugendstil. On the right, a door leads to the entrance of Magyar szecessziò Hàza, the Magyar Secession House: a museum dedicated to the Movement (with just a small wing left for Art Decò). On the ground floor, the lady at the ticket office welcomes you and offers the program, while a cafèteria with exquisite
3. Hungarian Secession House
On the left and above: facade of the Bedo House, and welcoming inscription for the Magyar Scecessziò hàza.
Magyar Szecesszió Háza
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pastry is also there if you need to stop a bit. Stairs then lead to the underground floor, and as soon as you walk into the (very small) room your eyes don't know where to start: the places is filled by collections of Secession objects, from wardrobes to cupboards, posters, needleworks, portraits, tables. The space is to tight that you have to be careful while roaming around; if you turn left, you'll find an extended glass cabinet with porcelains, teapots, majolics and vases. The atmosphere is definitely at the opposite spectrum of the "meek joyfulness" found in the Ipamuveszeti museum: it seems to have being cast into a past Age, in the silent intimacy of a true Above: some collections of objects in ceramics and metal shown in the cabinets in the underground floor.
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Above: other teapots and vases, Hail Mary statue (there are around 4) and chairs.
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19-century Secession house. There is just one "wrong" feeling that is really likely to come up, which is sensing that there's no apparent criteria with which such a huge mass of objects has been located in the room. It seems that they have been combined not with the purpose of telling a story or constituting a logical path, but just randomly, to give the feeling of redundancy. This is also what you feel when going up to the first floor, where a typical bedroom was reconstructed and furnished with a matrimonial bed, portraits of a family and wooden cases for toilet and jewellery, but also less "conventional" objects in such context, like peacock and Hail Mary statues, a collection of pipes, and so on... It may have been that quantity was so high and space so few that the organizers had somehow to cram all the stuff into not-the-most-logical arrangements, but this turns the Haza into a generic collection than a museum in the proper sense of the term; still, it's an inventory so rich that it's well worth a go if you want to dive into Szecesziò 's more crafty side.
QUICK REVIEW Artistic value: 9/10 Accessibility: 7/10 Above: some of the objects in the bedroom. Clockwise: bed with portraits and cradle, coloured glass with floreal motifs, a ToulouseLatrec poster, and a collection of hungarian pipes.
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Above: a huge peacock statue in dark stone at the beginning of the first floor and cases for personal hygiene and jewellery.
Art Noveau content: 10/10 Inner organization: 6/10 Overall: 8/10
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4. Gèllert bahs Gellért fürdő
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Szent Gellért tér 1 (dist. 11)
Not the greatest organization, but beauty and relax make it worth.
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“ Nearby metro stations: Kalvin tèr (1 km away, cross Liberty Bridge)
Gellert furdò (Gellert baths) are, together with the namesake hotel, part of a great complex built between 1912 and 1918; it seems that its roots are even more ancient though, as already from the 13th Century the Octoman Empire held the place in high consideration because of the benefits given by the "healing waters". If the outer facade in white marble and real-sized human figures near the door is really stunning, the hall welcoming visitors is even more. A wide space with patterns on the walls and the pavement, rich materials and carved capitals at the top of the columns; everything is tinted in shades of brown, ochre and red. Soft lights touch all the surfaces, creating a quiet atmosphere that is a good key to start some hours of relax. After having paid the ticket (5100 huf per person), on the sides of the main aisle, it is possible to acceed the stairs that lead to lockers and pools. You may have some trouble in orientating yourself, both because the space is really Above: statues of men and women in the double colonnade near the entrance of the Gellert Baths (below).
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Above: the rich patterns in shades of brown and ocher on the ceilings and the walls of the internal hall.
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amount of time, so it may not take too much until you want to feel a bit like a child at the sea. Or, if you don't want to deal with water or you had enough of it, there's also the option of going upstairs to enjoy some massage in dedicated rooms; the choice is impressive, from aroma therapies to treatments that involve stones, coal and even chocolate. Prices are acceptable, in the range of 4000 huf for 30 minutes. While you are there, don't forget to stop a bit near the balcony and stare once again at the magnificency of the architecture, as well as notice other small details or patterns that constitute such a pleasing panorama to the eyes. wide and the signage to help the visitors is definitely scarce if not abesent of all, and that seems to be a common concern among all the visitors. It is recommended, thus, to ask at the help points for a map of the whole place (they give away lots of them) or to have already in mind a specific groups of pool/ saunas to visit, so that you won't ask yourself where to go too much.
There's a lot of talking on tourist guides and reviews going on about which are the Spas that are more worth being visited while in Budapest, but the added relevance for the Art Noveau scene gives the Gellert complex a slight edge over, for example, the Lukasz or Szechenyi (despites service to clients is definitely improvable). If you want to relax your body as muchas pleasing your sense of aesthetics, you can't skip this one.
Talking about water, the Gellert offers a wide choice of temperature, ranging from hot waters (36 degrees) to freezing cold ones (app.ly 0 degrees); but also steam and dry saunas. The advice is to have a try of everyone of those, as rotating constantly will have the benefit of increasing blood circulation in your body-besides trying your stamina to extreme conditions, of course.
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If you want something more calm, you can remain outside and get a tan while lying on reclining chairs; watch out though, because the pools nearby have a system of artificial waves that start every Above: a view of the glass ceiling with coloured glass, and statue of mother and son at the end of the hall in the center of a fountain.
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Artistic value: 9/10 Accessibility: 9/10 Above: details in various material you can find on the first floor.
Art Noveau content: 8/10 Inner organization: 7/10 Overall: 8.5/10
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