At the dawn of the modern movement

a historical analysis of the Szent István park in Budapest

Abstract

The Szent István Park is one of the emblematic early modern gardens of Budapest in Hungary, and as such, it is one of the fairly known treasures of our capital. The modernist architecture of the park's surroundings has received increasing attention in recent years, thanks to a number of initiatives, including the Bauhaus 100 series of events. However, the park itself, as a latent entity, has not yet been able to gain the visibility it deserves, even though it is closely linked to its immediate surroundings, the modernist development of Újlipótváros. We would like to fill this gap with our two-part study on the history of this garden ensemble, in the first part with an analysis of the early development history of the Szent István Park, and in a second part with an exploration of the park's remaining values and a presentation of its potentials for a value-based development.
Our aim is to raise awareness of the park's landscape architectural and urbanistic values by providing a historical overview of its development, which will help us to understand and appreciate it. To achieve this, we will explore the impact of the interventions of the different construction periods on the park, from the original concept design, through the spatial structure and garden styles, to the compositional unity and the use of materials. Our intention is to help recognizing the park's landscape architectural significance in the professional community, thanks to an objective evaluation. On the basis of a summarised inventory of values, we will draw attention to a value-based and preservative development and renovation possibilities that can restore the park's original landscape structure. Meanwhile, bearing in mind the internal hierarchy and complex functions of the park, we aim helping to preserve or redefine as many structural elements as possible that are integral to the park's developmental history.
The two-part article follows the following methodology: in the first part, on the basis of historical research we describe the early development of the public park as a historic entity, and we describe its spatial structure, functions and certain built elements: Moreover we introduce the park’s garden architectural and artistic values around the contemporary times of its creation. In the second part, we describe the further development history of the post-World War II period, and explain the park’s alterations by providing a spatial structure analysis on the living and built elements of each construction period. We also analyse the structure of the park as a functional system, describing those elements that are still serving the ’idealised’ spatial and functional rules of the original design concept, and those which work against it. Finally, taking into account the contemporary aspects of public use, we will outline how some of the stylistically inappropriate elements that were subsequently created in the park can be modified in such a way that the historical spatial structure and the former style of the park may be restored.