ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the issue of modernisation through scrutiny of Hungarian architectural journals: three from the first period and one that bridged the second and the third periods. The small Hungarian Communist Party strengthened its position and, step by step, ground down the opposition parties and even its coalition partners. The first phase of postwar reconstruction in Hungary occurred under the direction of coalition governments and the circumstances of a capitalism gradually restricted by waves of nationalisation. Fischer and Mate Major belonged to the Hungarian Congres Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne section whose activity was temporarily suspended in 1938. When a considerable proportion of Hungarian architects drew inspiration from Scandinavian, Japanese or English modern architecture, some inevitably raised the issue of national character. The journal reported the first Hungarian attempts to export architectural expertise to the Third World and attempted to reframe the contested practice of designing generic projects for housing and communal buildings.
