TERRAZZO RECONSTRUCTION
Bauhaus once and today
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: BEATRIX TORMA
There's an idyllic, little street in Budapest with a name that almost everyone knows and where, thanks to the city walks, you can take a peek inside the iconic villa buildings. Napraforgó Street is a unique, experimental masterpiece of Hungarian Bauhaus architecture that is still a viable and desired place to live.
MONUMENTAL TERRAZZO
RECONSTRUCTION AND EXECUTION
Built in 1931, literally in months, the model housing estate, built according to the principles of modernist architecture, was designed to solve the housing problems of the economic crisis and to provide habitations in green areas for the middle classes. The architects Péter Kaffka, Lajos Kozma and László Vágó recognised the advantages of a unified and rationally operated settlement-like construction, bought the property with their own funds, convinced the Fejér and Dános construction company and started planning. Many of the 21 detached houses designed by renowned architects of the period are significant and representative works of the Bauhaus movement.
Sunlight, simplicity and purity
The Bauhaus Association of Sunflower Street is dedicated to the preservation of the street's architectural heritage and to making it accessible to the public, its website includes original documentation and fascinating stories about the design of the houses and their inhabitants. "The street is named after the sunflower and the name is symbolic this time. The huge windows of the modern houses are built to receive the sun's life-giving rays, wherever they come from. Sunlight and air, simplicity and purity, practicality and the health that flows from all these things are what modern man needs."
The houses were sold at the design stage, and construction was carried out using the latest building materials and technologies. My personal favourites are the windows of the Bauhaus houses, which were the first to use the innovative metal or wooden sliding sash windows and the folding accordion window with its many sashes. Most of the rationally designed spaces were designed with built-in furniture, which opened with sliding doors, as did the huge openings to the terraces. Porcelain light switches and lamp sockets were also a novelty.
Bespoke design
The architects commissioned to design the villa houses included both recognised conservative and modern thinkers open to the European Bauhaus movement. One of the secrets of the architect duo Béla Barát and Ede Novák success over the decades was that while Ede Novák was responsible for the basic layout and massing, Béla Barát, who also had a doctorate in art history and archaeology, was concerned with the development of decorative and artistic details.
Iamart carried out the reconstruction of the terrazzo tiles of a villa designed by the architect duo, as well as the cladding, the insulation of the terraces and the related finishing works, following a request from the owner. "They (Iamart) were the only ones who could accurately reconstruct what was there. They made four different custom patterns based on the original tiles, they managed to get black tiles with black and white tiles with white grindings in the same grain size as the original, they had no problem with the relatively small quantity, they were really open to anything".
The owners of the villa are, needless to say, staunch supporters of the Hungarian Bauhaus architectural heritage.
The source material was taken from the owner's narrative and information shared on the website of the Bauhaus Association of Napraforgó Street.
MONUMENTAL TERRAZZO
RECONSTRUCTION AND EXECUTION
Built in 1931, literally in months, the model housing estate, built according to the principles of modernist architecture, was designed to solve the housing problems of the economic crisis and to provide habitations in green areas for the middle classes. The architects Péter Kaffka, Lajos Kozma and László Vágó recognised the advantages of a unified and rationally operated settlement-like construction, bought the property with their own funds, convinced the Fejér and Dános construction company and started planning. Many of the 21 detached houses designed by renowned architects of the period are significant and representative works of the Bauhaus movement.
Sunlight, simplicity and purity
The Bauhaus Association of Sunflower Street is dedicated to the preservation of the street's architectural heritage and to making it accessible to the public, its website includes original documentation and fascinating stories about the design of the houses and their inhabitants. "The street is named after the sunflower and the name is symbolic this time. The huge windows of the modern houses are built to receive the sun's life-giving rays, wherever they come from. Sunlight and air, simplicity and purity, practicality and the health that flows from all these things are what modern man needs."
The houses were sold at the design stage, and construction was carried out using the latest building materials and technologies. My personal favourites are the windows of the Bauhaus houses, which were the first to use the innovative metal or wooden sliding sash windows and the folding accordion window with its many sashes. Most of the rationally designed spaces were designed with built-in furniture, which opened with sliding doors, as did the huge openings to the terraces. Porcelain light switches and lamp sockets were also a novelty.
Bespoke design
The architects commissioned to design the villa houses included both recognised conservative and modern thinkers open to the European Bauhaus movement. One of the secrets of the architect duo Béla Barát and Ede Novák success over the decades was that while Ede Novák was responsible for the basic layout and massing, Béla Barát, who also had a doctorate in art history and archaeology, was concerned with the development of decorative and artistic details.
Iamart carried out the reconstruction of the terrazzo tiles of a villa designed by the architect duo, as well as the cladding, the insulation of the terraces and the related finishing works, following a request from the owner. "They (Iamart) were the only ones who could accurately reconstruct what was there. They made four different custom patterns based on the original tiles, they managed to get black tiles with black and white tiles with white grindings in the same grain size as the original, they had no problem with the relatively small quantity, they were really open to anything".
The owners of the villa are, needless to say, staunch supporters of the Hungarian Bauhaus architectural heritage.
The source material was taken from the owner's narrative and information shared on the website of the Bauhaus Association of Napraforgó Street.
