The Hungária Ring Road of Budapest

In 1872, the municipal authorities of Budapest decided that the city should have three ring roads. Of these three, the outermost suburban ring took 120 years to complete, during which time urban concepts changed significantly. The original idea was an urban promenade surrounded by apartment and public buildings in a green environment. When the northern […]

The Method of Contrast and Its Decline after 1968

In the 1960s, Czech architects and preservationists promoted the view that new buildings in historic settings should be “contemporary” and should be designed in a contrasting manner. This belief implied that their authors had to find new methods of engagement with their context, avoid the approaches of neutral “preservationist architecture” and employ the formal methods […]