On those afternoons under the striped sunshades sometimes earless guys come around. Oh no! One eye crying, one looking. There you go, a Tetris-like mass scene on the third floor – the color doesn’t matter, the folks adjust. The Voodoo doll family standing on the balcony disrupts the order quietly. Someone almost didn’t get into the café on the corner, just look at him all cooped up. But no worries, it’s almost five and tomorrow is Saturday! The special characters of Daniel Labrosse take over the buildings of Budapest here, on HYPEANDHYPER! Look at the picture, and try to find the four flower-haired figures of various colors this time in Dunapark House!
“I have a lot of favorite houses in Újlipótváros, but perhaps I love the building on Pozsonyi út giving home to Dunapark Café the most. When entering the art deco house, it’s as if we went back in time, with its shapes recalling the grandeur of ages long gone. This timeless elegance also continues in the outer lines of the tenement palace. The building itself is much less decorated than the previous subjects of my series: it felt good to draw something simpler this time. This kind of clarity perhaps lets my figures predominate a bit more, too” – told us Dani about his latest work.
Your task this time: try to find the four flower-haired figures of various colors!
Dunapark House
The tenement house complex located at Pozsonyi út 38-40 has become known as Dunapark House over the years. The iconic block in Újlipótváros built in 1935-36 – designed by architect duo Béla Hofstätter and Ferenc Domány also designing ‘Dugattyús’ House – was perceived as the most prominent and elegant tenement palace of Budapest in its era.
Even though at first glance, everyone says that the house standing on the corner of Pozsonyi út and Szent István park is of Bauhaus style, the stairwells recall the shapes of art deco. The Dunapark House was originally built as a luxury tenement house, as justified by everything from the extra services to design. For example, the reinforced concrete stairs were coated in marble, with a vivid, blue Emergé rubber rug in the center. The comfort of residents was ensured by two elevators, a lockable stroller storage area and a house supervisor welcoming guests at the reception area. Their residents’ social and financial standing was further emphasized by elements including the indoor fountain, the continuous rooftop garden and a special ventilation system letting fresh air from the Danube into the apartments.
The original plans included a cinema for the ground floor, but then the idea was discarded and the bottom floor finally ended up giving home to Dunapark Café opened in 1938 and operating unto this day, which the building complex was also named after.
In our one-year-long article series titled Budapest by Labrosse, the special characters of Daniel Labrosse take over iconic buildings of Budapest here, on HYPEANDHYPER! Come, take a look and play with us!
art + design | Zsófi Barabás
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