Weissenhofmuseum Stuttgart: Budapest experimental estate – Napraforgó Street model houses + curator’s tour + symposium | until 03 March 2024

Until 3 March 2024, the Weissenhof Museum in Stuttgart in the Le Corbusier House is presenting the exhibition “Budapest Experimental Estate – Napraforgó Street Model Houses” with the architects who were involved at the time and are so well-known in Hungary, such as Farkas Molnár, Virgil Bierbauer and József Fischer. A curator’s tour (2 March 2024) and an evening of lectures (22 February 2024) on modern architecture will accompany the exhibitions “Light and Form” (Liszt Institute) and “Budapest Experimental Estate – Napraforgó Street Model Houses” (Weissenhof Workshop in the Mies van der Rohe House).

Image above: Unknown photographer Farkas Molnár  Dálnoki-Kovács-Villa, Budapest,
(around 1932), © MÉM MDK Photo Gallery

Exhibition Experimental Estate Budapest – Model Houses Napraforgó-street

In 1931, an experimental housing estate with detached houses was built in Budapest. Today it is known as the Napraforgó Street estate. It was initiated by a group of Hungarian architects and realised by the construction company Fejér és Dános. Their aim was to find new solutions to the housing problem.

Among the architects involved were well-known names in Hungary such as Farkas Molnár, Virgil Bierbauer and József Fischer. They brought international modernism to Hungary. The 22 residential buildings on the estate display a broad spectrum of styles. In addition to influences from Art Deco and Expressionism, the majority of the architects orientated themselves towards Neues Bauen and the formal language of the Bauhaus.

The “small housing model estate” was already inhabited when it was officially opened in November 1931. However, the houses were presented to the public in detail in the progressive Hungarian architecture magazine “Tér és Forma”.

The exhibition in the Weissenhofwerkstatt in the Mies van der Rohe House shows the Hungarian Napraforgó Street estate in the context of the Weissenhof estate. Exhibiting historical plans, photos and models. It was created in collaboration with the Hungarian Museum of Architecture in Budapest.

Guided Tour by the curator | 2. March 2024, 2 pm

Curator Klaus J. Loderer, architectural historian and lecturer at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences (HfWU), guides visitors through the informative exhibition. With the help of historical plans, photos and models, he goes into the history of individual houses and architects, as well as the development phase of the street. Thanks to his contact with the current residents of Napraforgó Street, Loderer, who has Hungarian roots himself, will also bring back and pass on many personal impressions.

SYMPOSIUM at the Liszt Institute: Modern Architecture in Hungary | 22 February 2024

After a welcoming address by Anja Krämer (Director of the Weissenhof Museum), Prof András Ferkai will give a lecture on Napraforgó Street in Budapest and the influence of the settlement on the development of architectural modernism in Hungary. Dr Àgnes Anna Sebestyén (MEM MDK) will focus on the history of reception and reporting on modern settlements in Hungary in the interwar period. Dr Raquel Jaureguízar will then look at the influence of German modernism on social housing in Spain in the 1940s and 50s. The lectures (25-30 min.) will be held in English. An informal discussion will round off the event.

During the break, Dirk Allgaier will present the new book “STAHLROHREVOLUTION!” on behalf of arnoldsche Art Publishers. Kálmán Lengyel, Marcel Breuer, Anton Lorenz and the New Furniture”

WHEN?

Exhibition: Friday, 8. December 2023 until Sunday, 3 March 2024
Fr – Su from noon to 5 pm

Guided Tour by the curator: Saturday, 2. March 2024, 2 pm

Symposium: Thursday, 22. February 2024, 5 pm at Liszt-Institut

WHERE?

Exhibition:
Weissenhofwerkstatt im Haus Mies van der Rohe
Am Weissenhof 20
70191 Stuttgart

Symposium:
Liszt-Institut – Ungarisches Kulturzentrum Stuttgart
Christophstraße 7
70178 Stuttgart

COSTS?

Exhibition: Entree is free
Symposium: Entree is free, registration required at uki-s@uki-s.de