Sie sind auf Seite 1von 7

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

Ybl Mikls

Neptun: PTZLHK

POL PENSI CASARES

UNGER HOUSE

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

Image 1: Unger House location

UNGER HOUSE

Image 2: Museum Boulevards facade

The Unger-House is a building from the middle of the


19th century, located in Budapest and it is exactly
placed in the Pest side, in Museum Boulevard 7, near
from the National Museum. It was built between the
years 1852 and 1853 and it is one of the first works of
Ybl Mikls.
This important hungarian architect was licensed in
classicist architecture but, during the Unger-House
period, Mikls style was romantic, being this the style
of his first period; otherwise this building was his first
project in Pest.
Ybl Mikls was the architect but Henry Unger was
probably who built it.
The Unger family was dedicated in smithy and, after
earning money from it, they made this apartment
house in Museum Boulevard.
The edifice first functioned as a housing building but,
allegedly, later became a brothel. Nowadays it is a residence building and it also gives place to several stores.

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

The Hunger-House is a two-story building. One of the most characteristic things of this house is that it has a passage which leads to 12 Magyar
Street, an area of the city that is more quiet compared to the bustling
Boulevard.
The most important facade of the building is the one that is facing
to Museum Boulevard. This facade is completely simetric and its the
more rich. In the ground level there are seven arches which are very
decorated and measure almost 5 meters high x 2,5 meters wide. Between them we can see narrow columns, which are connected to the
arches by carved leafy capitals. The arch in the middle belongs to the
door of the building and the others are the entrance of different locals
which are facing the street.
Image 3: Main access

The first floor is the most representative and it features Romantic, Byzantine, and Moorish elements. There are seven balconies that are special because they are holded by two griffins, which are touching their
wings. Also, in the middle of them, there are ornaments alluding natural elements. The balconies, which are little, have much presence because they are built with a heavy material (concrete), even the railing,
which is very solid and contains moorish star motifs as decoration. Furthermore, the openings in this level are also made by arches, but they
are almost 1 meter less high than the ones in the ground floor.
The second-story is the more different. The openings are not arches; all
the windows are rectangulars and, as all the facade, the ornaments are
present. In addition, their ledges/sills give an important ending for the
openings.

Image 4: Archs decoration

Finally, on the top of the facade we find the cornice, which is made by
a repetion of vaults. The narrow columns that are grown on the ground
floor end here, also with carved leafy capitals.

Image 5: Griffins, pillar and capital

Image 6: Cornice

Image 7: First and second level

Image 8: Second level openings

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

The acces to the building is a 2,5 meters wide passage.


Its paviment is one of the most precious parts of the
building. It is made with wooden cubes. In the past
they were useful becasue they made less noise when
horses walked on them.
5 meters inside the passage we find the entrance
space, which is built by big octogonal columns, connected by arches. Coming from Museum Boulevard,
on the right side of the passage there are 3 marble
steps that allow to the stair case. The pavement is
made by clourful ceramic (blue, red and white). However, on the other side of the passage ther are also 3
steps, but they allow to a little space that is useless.
Maybe it had some banches in the past and was done
to rest.

Image 9: Passage (photo taken from the acces in Museum Boulevard)

Image 10: Passages pavement

Image 11: Passages pavement

Image 12: entrance steps

Image 13: Passages ceiling

Image 14: Entrance space columns

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

The passage leads to a comfortable courtyard which measures


6 x 8,5 meters. This place transmits a charm feeling because it
has a perfect proportion and also because it is isolated from the
chaos of the city, being a peaceful and quiet space. Here the
pavement changes, the wooden cubes desapear and the floor is
covered by irregular cobble-stones.
There are two types of interior facades facing the courtyard.
One one hand, the facades that are perpendicular to the main
street are composed by 4 rectangulars windows which are the
same in both first and second levels. These windows are not
decorated, except the ledges. Furthermore, the ground floor is
a repetition from the street facade because it has the same type
of high and ornamented arches.
On the other hand, the facades that are parallel to the main
street are built by five narrow arches (approximately 1 meter
wide x 4 meters high) located in the first and second floors. Behind these arches, which are covered by glass, there are galeries. In addition, the ledges of the arches receive the same decoration than the other facade.
The ending of all four facades is the cornice which becomes very
important. It is decorated by circular elements that surround all
the space.
Finally, we can deduct that the Unger-House is composed by
two parts which are connected by the courtyard. One one side
there is the building that has the entrance in the passage mentioned before, and on the other there is an other whose access
is located in one corner of the courtyard.

Image 15: Courtyard

Image 16: Interior facades

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

The exit of the courtyard, which allows to


Magyar Street, is a continuity of the other
passage, and its also made by wood covering.
When you arrive to Magyar you can notice
a big difference from the other street. Apart
from the tranquility of the area, the facade
has a noticeable change. Unlike the facade
that is facing Museum Street, this one is not
symmetric. The building extends its shape
from one side and it becomes larger. Here
also we can apreciate more simplicity and a
lose of decoration.
In fact, the only element that attracts the
atention is the entrance. This is the only part
that is decorated, even though it is more simple than the other facades. Also, we can notice the simplicity of the cornice separating
the ground floor from the first level, which is
made by a repetition of rectangular patterns.
The openenings of this facade are small and
non-decorated arches, except the second level where, as in all project, the windows are
rectangular.
Moreover, to keep uniformity with all the
building, the top of the wall is finished by exactly the same cornice than the main facade.
Image 17: Magyar Street facade

As a conclusion, this building has a historical character and has the potential
to be an important building of the city, being one of the most beautiful architectonic examples in the area. However, its a shame that a building with
this characteristics is partially destroyed and have lost almost all the charm by
carelessness.
In 1956, the house achieved a plaque, which indicated its importance but, unfourtunately, nowadays the palace definitely deserves a completely renovation.
Image 18: Plaque

POL PENSI

HISTORY OF HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE

UNGER HOUSE

Bibliography
Photographs:
Farytale. Unger-hz, Mzeum Krt. 7. Budapest, Te csods! N.p., 30 July 2011. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://
budapest-tecsodas.blog.hu/2011/07/30/unger_haz_muzeum_krt_7>.
Budapest Bug. N.p., 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 18 Dec. 2014. <http://budapestbug.tumblr.com/post/62064169474/
secret-sights-of-budapest-the-unger-house-the>.

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen