Schanzer Mansion, 101 Andrássy Road

 
Source: egykor.hu

The two-story mansion with the corner towers under 101 Andrássy Road (formerly known as Schanzer Mansion) is a top creation of Hungarian Historic, late Art Nouveau architecture of the 20^th century. In its place once stood the property of Gyula Bányász ball-gown tailor, which had been designed by Frigyes Feszl in 1882-83, but it had been demolished in 1906. Even though there are 31 pages of the plans for this building, no photos have been preserved (only parts of them). Ignác Schanzer wood-tradesman from Szolnok and his wife, Mrs. Schanzer née Klára Lőwy, had their home designed on this lot by Frigyes Spiegel. According to the research of Károly Bugár-Mészáros, the family moved into the house after it was finished in 1908.

   
Source: Wikimedia, egykor.hu

The listed Schanzer Mansion is exceptional in multiple ways in the Hungarian applied arts and architecture. And not just because the furniture – designed also by Spiegel – were mostly intact. Here the new aspiration is visible to create a unified interior as the main focus.

   
Source: epiteszforum.hu

In his study of the Hungarian metalsmithing, Bugár-Mészáros highlights the dining room, constructed at around 1912, because of the coffered copper reliefs on the walls, the ornaments and embossment. Dániel Kovács, in his book “Szecessziós Budapest” (Art Nouveau Budapest – ed.), calls attention to the wood carvings, for example the carvings decorating the closed balcony on the corner. The mosaic-based stucco reliefs are also important pieces of the Hungarian applied arts. Exceptional, as well, the embossed bronze plate half-dome of the yellow marble fireplace with the Tree of Life motif, found in the Finnish Art Nouveau style library room.

   
Source: mma.hu

With its presidential room with wooden beams, meeting room with stucco ceiling, reception rooms, library, reading room, club room and arched hallways, the building was registered as a cultural asset, became a listed building, and the Hungarian Academy of Arts (MMA) took stock of the furniture.

In the registry they highlighted the mosaic floor and metal railings of the ground floor entrance hall, the winged glass door with the pair of fluted columns (ridged like the Ionic columns); the brass and copper chandelier with the ram heads in the presidential room, the remaining stucco ornaments, the geometrically decorated red floor tiles in the arched hallway of the first floor and the built-in cupboards.

   
Source: mma.hu

The exceptionally beautiful mansion was inherited by the two daughters after the death of Klára Lőwy. They could not keep the place up, however, so the building with its multiple mortgages was taken in by the state on 18^th December 1940, which then gave it the National Hungarian Press Association. In the war, after the mansion was used as headquarters by Marshal Voroshilov, the National Association of Hungarian Journalists moved back in at the end of 1947. At first the rooms on the Bajza street side were occupied by the Circus and Variety Show Company, then after the attic was built in, the legendary Theater Nr. 25 had operated here between 1970 and 1978. The greater damages were caused by this reconstruction.

By the turn of the millennium, the condition of the mansion was at an all-time low, the roof was leaking, since it was only fixed with slates, tiles and planks during the decades. By this point the costs of the renovation were estimated at around one million forints. The “MÚOSZ” (National Association of Hungarian Journalists) sold the building in 2006 and moved out in 2008. The state bought it in 2014 for 2 billion forints from the private owner at the time.

   
Source: epiteszforum.hu, mma.hu

The mansion was joined to 31 Bajza street, which had been designed by Vilmos Freund as a residential house for Adolf Freund in 1908. Later, Géza Aladár Kármán and Gyula Ullmann reconstructed it. Its new feature is that, instead of the geometrical Art Nouveau, Kármán and Ullmann created a Horta-style “flowery Art Nouveau” with the richly decorated façade and sculptural elements. This building became listed in 2004.

This building was in a less worn condition structurally, not counting the roofing, which was in need of replacement on both buildings.

  
31 Bajza street - facade
Forrás: pestbuda.hu

The reconstruction job was given to Laki Épületszobrász Zrt., and the cost of the project was about four billion forints. The bigger tasks included the discontinued roofing (putting a waterproof layer down) and roofing on 1400 m2, tin plating 60 pieces of ornaments of applied arts, creating 400 m2 of flat and arched façade glass wall and glass roof with glass structures.

Besides these, they installed and renewed 480 pieces of inside and outside openings, frames, balconies and closed balconies, fixed and created 5300 m2 of covering, and the façade renovation happened on 1600 m2. The decorative painting, sculpting, wood-, metal-, glass mosaic-, mosaic-, stone- and glass restoration had higher priority.

  
Source: octogon.hu, mma.hu, epiteszforum.hu

The new feature is the glass wing connecting the two buildings: although the close proximity of the mansions would make this connecting unnecessary, it was for comfort and safety reasons. The wing does not exactly fit into its surroundings, since unfortunately it is a glass construct forced into the original structure, used all the time in modern architecture; at least the glass area is not large, they did try to smoothly fit it into the surroundings. Laki Zrt. mentioned on their website that they used special glass beams, for the first time in Hungary.

 
The new glass wing
Source: Wikimedia, mma.hu

The Hungarian Academy of Arts moved in in 2018. Today one of the buildings houses the offices of the directors, the meeting room, the club room for academics, the event hall, while the other building is mostly occupied by the Secretariat of MMA.

Source: Wikimedia

Sources: pestbuda.hu, mma.hu