The Pursuit of Low Cost and Good Quality. The Changing Judgement of Pre-Designed Family Houses in Hungary
The Pursuit of Low Cost and Good Quality. The Changing Judgement of Pre-Designed Family Houses in Hungary

Summary/Abstract: “The primordial instinct of every human being is to assure himself of a shelter” - stated Le Corbusier in 1923, as he proposed to solve the problem with mass-produced houses to avoid revolution. Although the master’s prototype was a family house, he was thinking of multifamily housing buildings on an urban scale, and the majority of modern architects professed this view. However, family houses have not disappeared to this day, while especially after World War II they seemed outdated for the newly formed socialist-state countries in Eastern Europe. This paper will summarize the seventy years history of standard family house design in Hungary. I analyze the situation from the perspective of politicians, architects, and builders who were the main participants to this process. How did the communist (later socialist) party judge the topic? How did the architects’ opinion change? Which were the arguments for standardization? How can the situation be followed through the changing name of pre-designed single-family houses: standard, recommended, model?

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