{"id":354940,"date":"2020-02-01T05:18:10","date_gmt":"2020-02-01T04:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funzine.hu\/?p=354940"},"modified":"2020-01-31T11:28:16","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T10:28:16","slug":"budapest-uncovered-the-swimming-architect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funzine.hu\/en\/2020\/02\/01\/goodapest-en-2\/budapest-uncovered-the-swimming-architect\/","title":{"rendered":"Budapest Uncovered: The Swimming Architect\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dubbed as the Hungarian Dolphin, Alfr\u00e9d Haj\u00f3s (1878-1955) was not only Hungary\u2019s first Olympic champion, but also the first modern Olympic swimming champion, as well as a talented architect, who mastered the profession under Ign\u00e1c Alp\u00e1r and \u00d6d\u00f6n Lechner. <\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, as the winner of the art competition at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, he\u2019s one of only two Olympians ever to have won medals in both sport and art Olympic competitions. On the occasion of Haj\u00f3s\u2019 142th birthday (held on 1 February), we have rounded up some of the architect-sportsman\u2019s best works from Budapest, while still more of his buildings can be found in towns like Miskolc, Szeged, or Debrecen.<\/p>\n

National Swimming Stadium<\/h2>\n

One of the most renowned buildings of Haj\u00f3s, Margaret Island\u2019s National Swimming Stadium was built in 1930, just six years after winning the art competition at the Olympics. Haj\u00f3s made three different plans until the last one finally got the green light: the first plan was more conservative, while the second envisioned the building with Egyptian-style columns. The realized design follows Art Deco aesthetics: inspired partly by the Olympic Stadium of Amsterdam (compare the clinker brick facades of the two buildings) and Frank Lloyd Wright\u2019s Midway Gardens (demolished in 1929), the ferro-concrete stadium features only subtle decoration, mostly in the form of terracotta tiles framing the windows above the entrance, and relies more on the interplay between the weight and forms of the different sections. At the time of its construction, the National Swimming Stadium was considered the largest indoor swimming hall in Europe with its 33-metre long and 18-metre wide swimming pool.<\/p>\n

1138 Budapest, Margitsziget<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo credit: Zolt\u00e1n Bolla<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Synod Center of the Reformed Church<\/h2>\n

Designed by Haj\u00f3s together with his colleague J\u00e1nos Vill\u00e1nyi, the Synod Center of the Reformed Church was built in 1909 and is located on the corner of Abonyi and Szab\u00f3 J\u00f3zsef utca in the Zugl\u00f3 neighborhood of Budapest. The monumental, three-story palace blends together artfully the elements of late historicism with the shapes and symbolism of Art Nouveau: the stoops are guarded by winged lions, the windows are watched by owls (the beloved figures of Hungarian Art Nouveau represent knowledge and wisdom), while the facade and interiors are richly adorned with floral motifs. On the corner of the building, those with a sharp eye can catch the names of the architects composed of golden mosaics.<\/p>\n

1146 Budapest, Abonyi utca 21.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

F\u00fczess\u00e9ry Apartment Building<\/h2>\n

Found only a couple of minutes\u2019 walk from Astoria, nested in the narrow Gerl\u00f3czy utca, the F\u00fczess\u00e9ry Apartment Building was also designed in the Art Nouveau style by the Haj\u00f3s-Vill\u00e1nyi duo. The construction was commissioned in 1903 by the mother of Dr. \u00c1rp\u00e1d F\u00fczess\u00e9ry, the secretary of the Hungarian Athletics Association and the Hungarian Swimming Association at the time, who was a good friend of Haj\u00f3s, himself the captain of the Hungarian Football Federation. The four-story building extends in the back into the neighboring Vitkovics Mih\u00e1ly utca, where it shows a cleaner, brighter face.<\/p>\n

1052 Budapest, Gerl\u00f3czy utca 7.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Headquarters of the Hungarian Agronomist Union<\/h2>\n

Constructed in 1911, once again designed by Haj\u00f3s and Vill\u00e1nyi, this towering pre-modern building is one of the most exceptional edifices of Alkotm\u00e1ny utca, the stately street leading up to the Kossuth t\u00e9r entrance of the Hungarian Parliament. Now occupied by the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, thankfully the connection between the building\u2019s function and exterior ornamentation (corn cobs and cow heads) hasn\u2019t been lost. Topped by a mansard roof that ends in two pyramid-shaped turrets, the facade\u2019s most striking feature is the five-story high middle projection, made of metal and glass, anticipating the impending popularity of the two materials in 20th century architecture.<\/p>\n

1054 Budapest, Alkotm\u00e1ny utca 29.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dubbed as the Hungarian Dolphin, Alfr\u00e9d Haj\u00f3s (1878-1955) was not only Hungary\u2019s first Olympic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":354956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1388],"tags":[11199],"post_places":[],"class_list":["post-354940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-goodapest-en-2","tag-budapest-uncovered"],"acf":{"connected_places":null,"del_image":""},"yoast_head":"\nBudapest Uncovered: The Swimming Architect\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dubbed as the Hungarian Dolphin, Alfr\u00e9d Haj\u00f3s (1878-1955) was not only Hungary\u2019s first Olympic champion, but also the first modern Olympic swimming champion\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, 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