The formation of the architectural landscape of Szeged, Hungary. 1872-1930.

Abstract

The article, written during the implementation of the international Russian-Hungarian project, is of an overview nature. The author's goal is to expand the understanding of Russian colleagues about the Hungarian architecture of the late XIX – first third of the XX centuries. Szeged was chosen as an example of a large-scale reconstruction: the city, almost completely destroyed by the flood of 1879, was rebuilt in a short period and became the "southern capital" of Hungary. Based on field research in 2022, three layers of the architectural and spatial landscape of Szeged are considered: "imperial" (borderless classicism and historicism), "national" (Magyar secession) and interwar (Art Deco). The article is illustrated with photographs of the Hungarian participant of the project G. Csonadi. The object of the study is the city of Szeged, located 169 km south of Budapest, near today's Hungarian-Romanian and Hungarian-Serbian borders, at the confluence of the Tisza and Maros rivers. It is the second most important city in Hungary, the most important point on the "mental map" of the country, the capital of the Hungarian plain and a symbol of the revival of the national spirit. The subject of the study is the process of constructing an architectural "image of the Motherland". In our work, we use an interdisciplinary approach, combining elements of history, architecture, cultural studies and social geography. This allows us to explore and analyze architectural heritage more deeply, its impact on the formation of the cultural landscape and social processes. Using the example of the southern Hungarian city of Szeged, the process of constructing the "image of the Motherland" developed in a time perspective is considered. We have identified several layers in the architectural landscape of Szeged: regular-imperial (Biedermeier, neo-Baroque, borderless classicism), national-romantic (from historicism in the spirit of the French Renaissance to the Magyar secession), interwar (Art Deco based on neo-Romanticism). We see that the "spirit of the times" and the "image of the Motherland" are not static and are embodied in various forms. The image of "little Vienna", resurrected according to the patterns of the Enlightenment era on the far periphery of the Empire, is being transformed under the onslaught of the nationally oriented bourgeoisie. Bizarre and eccentric architectural experiments sponsored by private original customers are replaced by monumental pathos ensembles that help citizens jointly survive the deepest collective psychotrauma. The Synagogue, the Cathedral, the University and the "sunny houses" embody different facets of the Hungarian identity.