Faculty of Architecture Yearbook 2007

Előszó

The Faculty of Architecture has always been a special part of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The Faculty of Architecture is a meeting point of arts and sciences, where students are prepared for this vocation by masters of great knowledge. It is a workshop where the knowledge of scientists and the precision of engineers are merged with the freedom and creativity of artists. The wonderful creations resulting from the alloy of these characteristics are shown in this Yearbook. At the Faculty a wide range of professionals work: inventor mathematicians, engineers admired for their constructions and well-known artists. The professors and students of the Faculty have done a lot for the improvement and beautification of the built environment, and for the development of their Alma Mater, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
It is not by chance that architecture is one of the seven professions, the recognition of which is regulated by the branch guidelines of the European Union. These guidelines allow automatic recognition, since architectural education was harmonized in all the member states. This special treatment also shows that special knowledge is needed for this profession: Máté Major, a former dean of the Faculty said
"one part of it is the science of construction (the science of building techniques) and the science of design (the science of transforming the material need into design, solution of the material function), another part of it is the art of architecture (the art of transforming the spiritual need into conscious-instinctive spiritual function), these two work in close interaction in the formation of the building, and in the finished product (the architecture born from them) they are present in a special, inseparable alloy."
The aim of this Yearbook is to present this special identity and unity, the Faculty of Architecture has acted with a view to this in its educational, research and developmental work for centuries. Therefore the Faculty of Architecture plays a special role not only within the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, but also in Hungarian higher education. Due to this special role, the interpretation of the Bologna Process and the appearance of masses in higher education presented the Faculty with an especially difficult challenge, but now in 2007 it can be clearly seen that the Faculty of Architecture succeeded in this task; it managed to develop further in its activities, while keeping the traditionally high standard and the productions of its research and development units of international fame. These are represented in this Yearbook.
I hope that the Yearbook of the Faculty of Architecture at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics will convince both the professionals and those interested of the unique situation and performance of the Faculty that the route the Faculty followed is the right one, revealing remarkable abilities, with great creators and creations.
Budapest, August 2007
Dr. Károly Molnár Rector Vissza