Performance and style in the work of Olgyay and Olgyay

摘要

No arguments are necessary to defend the statement that the work of the Olgyay brothers prefigured environmentalisation in architecture. The seeds of this movement can be found in their books and buildings; but that is not all that can be found there, nor is this legacy adequate to fully explain their work. In the Olgyays' work, the study of climate unfolds in the cultural arena. The design of shading devices intends solar control and formal expression. The shadows these elements produce create physical comfort and a play of light and dark. Yes, the body and buildings are seen as instruments capable of modulating temperature; but the 'interpositions' that perform in the latter sense also create expressive patterns. The Olgyays' use of data, calculations and analytical diagrams suggests a design method unconcerned with aesthetic issues; yet, when the book-cover images, cropped photographs, and references to history and experience are kept in mind, the inadequacy of a strictly environmentalist interpretation is obvious. Their architecture - built and unbuilt - belonged to a style that emerged in the cultural context of Hungarian Modernism. They did not, however, accept the modern inheritance uncritically; for they realised it needed correction and could be enriched, enhancing performance while developing expressive possibilities. Somewhat like a solar eclipse, the work of the Olgyays cast a shadow on international Modernism all the while being held in orbit by its gravitational pull. The shadow was not homogeneous, however; it consisted of levels of darkness. Surrounding a fully shaded inner region of environmental performance, we found a partially shaded outer region of patterns, combinative masks and style.