R Building, Campus, University of Technology

Text: Erzsébet Urbán

After extensive damage caused by World War II, the main goal was to restore the basic infrastructure and residential buildings, besides clearing and removing debris. In close association with the socialist ideology, a kind of reconstruction was targeted instead of restoration. The years to come saw the evolution of Social Realist architecture in Hungary, with the enigmatic slogan „Socialist contents, national form”, the interpretation of which had never been worked out: thus it was left to architects how to translate the Stalinist formula to the buildings they designed. As a result of the aggressive propaganda campaign targeted against the western civilisation it was beyong imagination that Modernist buildings could be realised as they faced the prevailing ideology. However, the building Gyula Rimanóczy designed for the University of Technology in 1952 was able to highlight the pure ideals of Modernism.