Napraforgó Street (Napraforgó utca) (1931)

The 21 houses on the street are very different from one another. The initiators among the architects, Péter Kaffka, Lajos Kozma, Farkas Molnár and Lászlo Vágo, realised houses that most strongly reflected the tendencies of European modernism. Other architects, on the other hand, realised a more moderate modernism. Even more traditionally orientated versions like house No. 22 by Ede Novák and Béla Barát we did not put a picture here.

The city council had several regulations that had to be adhered to during construction. These included that only the house could be built without outbuildings, the fence could be 80 cm high and the buildings had to be at least three metres from the property boundary.

All houses are constructed similar by using concrete slabs. The No. 6 and No. 8 designed by Lajos Kozma is a double house. All other houses are single houses. Mainly the living room, the kitchen and the dining room are situated on ground floor. All sleeping rooms and the bathroom are located on first floor.

In our list of pictures the number of houses are mentioned in combination with the architect's names. 1. Vágó, 2. Wälder, 3. Kaffka, 4. Birbíró, 5. Kozma, 6. Kozma, 7. Vágvecsei, 8. Kozma, 7. Vágvecsei Wellisch, 9. Kertész, 10. Münnich, 11. Vágó, 12. Quitter, 13. Masirevich, 14. Hegedűs and Böhm, 15. Ligeti and Molnár, 16. Tauszig and Róth, 17. Hajós, 18. Weichinger, 19. Gerlóczy, 20. Fischer, 22. Barát and Novák.

Most of the owners decided for big bushes or trees. This means that some of the houses are unrecognisable. In winter, when many trees have no leaves, the housing estate is better suited for taking pictures.

A memorial stone in the street, probably unusual, dates from the opening period. Mentioned are the architects, meticulously assigned to the number of houses they designed.

As a second orientation, the Association of Napraforgó founded in 2017 erected a glass stele with the history of the street. It bears the name Sunflower Street. Probably due to the larger windows that let in more light. Sunflowers are always symbolically planted around the glass stele.

The houses on the model estate were not built by a Architect's association, as in other countries, but by private builders. This had the advantage that the houses were already in the hands of one person and were therefore occupied after construction. Construction work began in February 1931. 

A detailed story about the people, that either sold their houses at the end of the 1940s or that were expelled due to political reasons in the 1950s, you can find here. The article is written by the Association for Napraforgó Street. They also mention in this article a list of people, that lived in the street in 1931. Most of them can be seen as the developers of the houses.

The Association was founded in 2017. Their aim is to protect the houses as much as possible. Their aim is to encourage the city and the residents of the street to take a responsible approach to architecture and gardens.

• Napraforgó Street Bauhaus Association
• Wikipedia Napraforgó utcai kísérleti lakótelep