today is a special day as this is going to be my first ever post about hungarian brutalism. i’m not entirely sure why i haven’t blogged about anything in my home country before - perhaps the pressure to know more about these buildings than i do is too much! but i guess the time has come to present something cool and exciting and interesting - this is one of the more famous ones and as such, an internationally more accessible and digestable example - that is the OKISZ offices in budapest, hungary.
built between 1971 and 1973, this office complex is located in a particularly leafy pocket of zugló, the 14th disctrict of budapest, almost exclusively surrounded by art nouveau villas and churches. the architect is recorded as jános mónus - who won an ybl-award (a sort of hungarian pritzker prize i guess) for the “high quality fusion of structure, technology and form” demonstrated in this very building. the company was ÁÉTV at the time, the state development company (according to the construction archives, operational from the late 50s until the late 90s) tasked to build public-use buildings for budapest: schools, hospitals and of course, offices - this one to house the countrywide union of small-scale industry bodies (the acronym is the OKISZ in the building name) and i’m really sorry that the language of the economic structures of socialist hungary does not necessarily translate too well to my engllish language readers but hey i’m trying my best!
it is a striking, fine piece of brutalism that understands and seamlessly fits into its environment without losing its character, not trying to be imposing without being too modest. a review from 1984 claims - and i’m paraphrasing somewhat, that “it would have been shameless and impolite to try and compete with its surroundings, however you should also live up to such an environment full of notable buildings” and it does do a remarkable job at that.
it has an exciting elevation of five floors stacked upon each-other in a dynamic, stair-like manner and a somewhat L-shaped plan. the facade continues this rhythm of protruding concrete mullions between the slick windows - for those who love this style it’s a bit of a jackpot i think. i went on a freezing cold january day in thick heavy snowfall - the white contrast it created with the concrete was really eye-catching from a pattern point of view too, but it also somehow emphasised the spatial nature of this building.
obviously, this is a textile designer’s blog, so i’m a layperson when it comes to the ins and outs of the structural geniuses of such architecture, but eye-pleasing proportions are, i think, a universal language that can be appreciated by everyone.
brutalism is also not necessarily inherently minimalist, you can notice fantastic details even outside - but this is also an interior textile blog so i was yearning to go inside. even though i could not (in fact, a security guard came out to check what i was up to outside too, haha!) however as a part of othernity, the hungarian project for the venice biennale for 2021, a series of guided walks by the centre of contemporary architecture was organised back in 2020, several bloggers and journalists attended taking amazing photos of the inside. it looks very 1970s, cosy and very socialist (every building in my childhood memories has a similar details or typeface i think!) and it also has one of those ever-moving lifts that we call paternoster in hungary.
i’m going to recommend you two of these articles about this walk in 2020, both with brilliant photography - first hype&hyper (if you don’t know them, please get acquainted with this comprehensive cultural quarterly focused on eastern europe.) and also check out the blog post from welovebudapest, with fabulous indoor shots including of the roof terrace.
for the floor plan and elevations, and an interesting drawing on the accompanying furniture design, please see the previously quoted lechner centre article, it’s very insightful! the reason for this many resources available on this particuar building is of coruse the venice biennale project for 2021 - this building was one of the 12 selected to represent the hungarian pavilion. all 12 were focused entirely on this particular era of architecture and architects of our surrounding countries were invited to participate in their re-interpretation.
despite this celebratory re-discovery happening, brutalism in hungary is quite endangered and none of these buildings are under listed status, however many are loved and used and perhaps the attitudes are changing somewha and after years of the somewhat over-politicised and emotionally fuelled attitudes the architecture of the socialist era in hungary, it’s refreshing to see it getting more appreciated and putting some of these buildings into a more recognised place. i hope to bring you more examples of hungary in the future.
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links:
bejártuk az OKISZ székházat | othernity - by kitty mayer for hype&hyper, 30/06/2020
megszeretni a szocialista korszak építészetét? – a zuglói brutalista: avagy az OKISZ-székházban jártunk - by dorka bartha for welovebudapest, 01/07/2020
“betonba foglalt álom” – az OKISZ-székház” - by ágnas jancsó for lechner centre 13/04/2024
KÉK - centre for contemporary architecture
DOK - contstruction documentation and information centre