The research previous to the complete renovation traced down a lot of curious details. Three architectural competitions had taken place before Aladár Árkai was assigned to design the church. Besides all the competition works we analysed the documentation of alterations right at the start, like the inversion of the entire building so the tower wouldn't cast its shadow on the sanatorium next door.
Compared to church architecture of the period, Árkay's work includes many cutting edge technological innovations, the geometry of the majolica ornaments representing the early Art Deco style, or the reinforced concrete dome with its inner diameter of 13,7 m.
The 'Talking Church' has been renovated only partially during its history, and some of these works even worsened its condition. The shape of the weakened roof structure (which could be referred as a piece of technological history, now covered with 80's artificial slates containing asbestos), or the building stones, the plaster works or the custom made Zsolnay-ceramics, is truly "telling", so they required a meticulous search in the archives, and examinations and reconciliations by the many specialists involved. The planning process had been backed by the inventory of every elements of the building, being protected or with no value of heritage.
DESCRIPTION: Complete heritage restoration of Fasor Calvinist Church
LOCATION: Városligeti fasor 5., Budapest
LAND REGISTER REFERENCE: 33509/1
MONUMENT ID: 859
MONUMENT REGISTRATION NUMBER: 15585
CLIENT: Budapest-Fasor Reformed Congregation
DATE OF COMPLETION: 2019.04.01.
HERITAGE PROTECTION CONSULTANT: Dr. Gergely Nagy
LEAD RESEARCHER: Piroska Varga DLA
RESEARCHER: Zoltán Tömpe, Bianka Gizella Somkutas, Gergely Lezsovits, Dorottya Répay
ARCHIVE IMAGE:
street elevation archive image: Építő Ipar 1913 június 22, 25. szám, 271. oldal
plan: Építő Ipar 1913 június 29, 26. szám, 286. oldal
section plan: Építő Ipar 1913 július 6, 27. szám, 296. oldal
archive image: (1913): Budapest Főváros Levéltára: XV.17.d.329-33509/ 1 Építési engedélyezési tervdokumentáció (1873-2006), 3656. kis doboz
archive image: (1984): Budapest Főváros Levéltára: XV.17.d.329-33509/ 1 Építési engedélyezési tervdokumentáció (1873-2006), 3656. kis doboz
