Authentic Reconstruction of Buda Castle’s Northern Wing Underway

The northern wing of the Buda Castle is being rebuilt using traditional technology - announced the The National Hauszmann Program

The National Hauszmann Program, that aims to reconstruct Buda Castle District to its pre-Second World War state posted on its official Facebook page. Named after Alajos Hauszmann, a prominent Hungarian architect who significantly shaped the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the program aims to rehabilitate and partially rebuild elements of the Royal Palace and surrounding structures.

"The reconstruction of the historical building complex is proceeding according to the planned schedule, during which we pay special attention to ensuring that traditional technologies are given a worthy role in addition to today's modern construction regulations. The reconstruction is currently progressing in parallel in two main areas - structural construction and the re-production of decorative elements.

The patterning of the decorative ornamentation has already been completed, and the sample pieces have been completed. We are working on the production of the interior artificial marble and gypsum stucco elements. We have determined the color, texture and use of materials for the plaster of the external facade, and the carved limestone plinths and decorative elements, the hard castings, the wrought iron wall brackets and light fixtures, and the final structural elements of the Jungfer Gate are being prepared. The shaping of the copper and decorative tin elements for the roof is also being prepared.

The construction of the north wing is also proceeding according to schedule. We are currently constructing the reinforced concrete riser and load-bearing structures of the first floor. The ground floor exhibition space and the barrel vault of the space that will later house the café on the first floor have been completed. On the west side, in the wall sections between the reinforced concrete support elements, the construction of solid brick walls made using traditional technology, more than one meter thick, is already in full swing – the decorative elements of the facade and the final layer of plaster will be placed on these. Our goal is to ensure that the historicizing details appear as authentically as possible during the restoration, not only in appearance, but also in the use of materials and construction methods. In order to authentically reconstruct the north wing of the Haussmann-era palace, we previously removed part of Building A. The surveys clearly established that the majority of the walls were built during the socialist period, but on the eastern facade of the northern wing facing the Danube, we found original Haussmann-era wall remains, which we will carefully preserve.
One of the most important goals of the National Haussmann Program is to once again show the face of the Buda Castle Palace that visitors could see in its heyday, at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In this spirit, the northern wing will regain its original mass, its richly decorated facade and its former bustling roof. The building will once again be accessible between Szent György tér and Hunyadi udvar, and among its interior spaces, the vestibule, the covered inner courtyard, the cloakroom lobby and the Munkácsy Hall will also be reborn."