Historic Central European Cities and Towns: Beauty + Superior Environmental Performance

As towns and cities grow, the pattern chosen for new urban development has a large impact on environmental footprint.

Over the past few years living in Central Europe, I’ve been fortunate to explore the historic cities and towns here in Hungary a good bit with my family. We’ve discovered that there are a number of really spectacular gems of urbanism and architecture worth study. 

Pécs, Hungary

Szeged, Hungary

Eger, Hungary

These places offer valuable lessons on how to build cities and towns that are not only charming and beautiful - but simultaneously provide superior environmental performance.  

Here's a brief video explaining reasons why the designs of these historic cities and towns often perform so well environmentally, compared to contemporary suburban patterns:

Though many of these places started as Roman or medieval settlements, most of them were greatly expanded and embellished relatively recently during Hungary’s equivalent of the Belle Époque in the late 1800s when Austria-Hungary experienced a prolonged period of prosperity. 

Below are Google Maps view links to some of our favorites places to visit. 

Note: When you click on a link to explore an example in Google Maps, I recommend looking at the urban pattern from above, and also using the "Street View" function to drop down and explore the beautiful character of the streets and spaces from the ground.

1. Budapest: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

Budapest set the tone for architecture and urbanism in Hungary during the late 1800s.  It’s grander in scale (4 to 6 stories tall) than the smaller cities and towns (usually 1 to 4 stories tall), but there are otherwise many similarities in the design language.  The most common building type is a mixed-use, attached type that features a central courtyard with open galleries at each floor level.  This building type facilitates a very efficient use of the land in a very pleasant low-rise format.

The architectural design of the façades usually reinforces the legibility of the urban structure while also giving each (otherwise relatively similar) building a unique and often very beautiful individual expression.

Next is a selection of smaller Hungarian cities and towns. I think the physical design of Hungary’s smaller cities and towns provides really wonderful design inspiration, and there are many examples of efficient use of mid-block areas frequently employing mid-block passages, or mews, of various configurations.  

2. Szentendre: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

3. Győr: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

4. Szekesfehervar: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

5. Pécs: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

6. Szeged: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

7. Eger: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

8. Sopron: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

9. Tihany: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

10. Keszthely: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

11. Debrecen: [Click to Explore in Google Maps]

I hope you find this brief tour helpful and enjoyable!

"The Sense of Proportion is the Chief Artistic Sense"

Proportional study sketches from master drawings, paintings and built works of architecture are some of the best possible exercises for one's sense of proportion.  I try to do them whenever I can.  

Simple tools - just a pencil and sketchbook are all that is needed.  Here are some examples from my travels:

Proportional study sketch by James Dougherty from the painting Portrait of a Young Man – by Hans Holbein the Younger in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Julien Guadet (1834-1908), the esteemed French architect, theoretician and Professor at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris writes in his four volume masterwork Éléments et Théorie de l'Architecture:

"The sense of proportion is the chief artistic sense.  Proportions are infinite and delicate in art and are still more so in nature.  

How do you recognize a friend among all the people you see, even though you see millions pass?  A question of proportions alone.  But proportions are so infinite and variable, that among millions of heads no two are exactly alike.  

Nothing develops a sense of proportion like practice in drawing.  To draw is to perceive and then express those specific proportions that distinguish and identify the model.  The best draftsman is the most sensitive to proportions."

Proportional study sketch by James Dougherty from the sculpture Theseus Battling the Centaur - by Antoine-Louis Barye in the High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA

Proportional plein air study sketch by James Dougherty of Budapest's Chain Bridge - designed by William Tierney Clark

Proportional study sketch by James Dougherty from the sculpture Nymph of the Fields - by Carlo Pittaluga in the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

Amazon: Éléments et Théorie de l'Architecture

Ice Skating Pavilion as Civic Architecture

The best new traditional neighborhood developments (TNDs) feature a sprinkling of extraordinary focal architecture amid a setting of more ordinary background buildings.  Focal architecture provides visual spice to the physical design of a neighborhood and results in landmarks that make a place more memorable and legible.

This can be seen in the image I drew below of the civic meeting hall in Dover, Kohl & Partners' Lowcountry project Kerr Village:

It is often a challenge, though, to find uses to inhabit these focal sites.

Here is a beautiful historic example for consideration, that provides warmth and joy during the colder months of the year.  The Pavilion of the City Park Ice Rink (Városligeti Műjégpálya) in Budapest:

The gorgeous Neo-Baroque Pavilion building was designed by Imre Francsek in 1895 for Hungary's Millennium Celebrations marking the 1000th anniversary of the Magyar conquest of 895.

The Pavilion features a grand tripartite central mass crowned by elaborate compound domes with finials.  This central mass is flanked by two smaller octagonal domed masses connected by long linking arms.  The resulting focal yet broad composition embraces the ice skating ring and imbues the large space with a sense of charm, intimacy and warmth.  (To see a more in depth discussion of the articulation of architectural massing types click here). 

A historic image of the Pavilion can be seen in this 1895 commemorative etching of the grounds of the Hungarian Millennium Celebrations.  The Pavilion is at the bottom center of the image just to the right of the exedra of the Heroes' Square monument and the bridge marking the grand entrance to the Exposition grounds:

   
The ice skating rink and Pavilion were so popular during the Millennium Celebrations, they were afterward made into permanent fixtures of the City Park.  

Today, the Pavilion building still houses ice skating equipment rentals and changing facilities, as well as a restaurant, cultural center and an events hall.  While it continues to serve one of Europe's largest ice skating rinks in the winter time, the Pavilion is now also used for a wide variety of cultural programs throughout the entire year.