Budapest Architectural Walk 2023

As part of the year 10 Art curriculum, we are learning about the history of architectural styles in Budapest. The trip consisted of 27 incredible sightseeing wonders throughout the whole of Buda and Pest. Our trip, which included an immense amount of sightseeing with information about this specific building or statue, a 30-minute break for a quick sketch, and multiple stops to enjoy a break with friends to buy some food or a drink. Firstly, we went to the castle district, where we looked at different architectural styles such as Neo-Renaissance and Gothic. Then we walked to a less-known part of the district for a quick sketch of facade of Mary Magdalen church. Unfortunately, only the bell tower remains. After that we looked at the Fishermans bastion and Ms. Ferguson told us about the Mattias church. Originally the church was built in Romanesque times, rebuilt in the 13th century as a Gothic building, with other refurbishments. However, the current church as we see it was redesigned and built in 1897 by Frigyes Schulek. It is the best quality example of Hungarian Secession architecture featuring the famous tiles made by Zsolnay factory in Pécs.

Then we walked down to the newly refurbished Szechenyi bridge which was built in a neo-classical style. As we moved further into Pest, so did our timeline into the present; we took a look at the Mariott Hotel which was built during the Soviet era, in the Brutalist style. The key features of a Brutalist building are the 90°degree angles, made out of mainly concrete and glass, and a monochromatic palette. We then made our way to the Erzsebet bridge, a modern structure. We then arrived at our first contemporary building: The Szervita Square building. Also at Szervita Ter is the Baroque St Anna’s church, and Török Bankhas. It was originally built in 1732 in the Baroque style but was renovated in 2022. Travelling through Lipótváros passing the Basilica and the Gilisztá ház on Batthory utca, past Bedo House in the Art Nouveau style. Then we ended our trip at Szabadsag ter looking at Beaux Arts buildings such as the Adira Palace and finished our trip by looking at some of the miniature statues by Mihály Molodko and from there we were picked up by the school busses and brought back to school.

The trip was lots of fun, even though we were very tired by the end of the day, we can now create wonderful timelines of Budapest in our sketchbooks.

Dia and Charlie Year 10