ART UNDERFOOT: GORGEOUS FLOOR TILES OF BUDAPEST STAIRWELLS

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Photo : Krisztián Bódis / We Love Budapest - Budapest Images

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8/07/2017, Monday, 3:19 PM4-minute article

Colorful patterned cement tiles are becoming increasingly popular among new restaurants and cafés lately. We began investigating to learn where this style originates from and where this unique kind of flooring first appeared in Budapest, and soon noticed that this décor is commonly seen right underfoot on the floors of many turn-of-the-century apartment buildings. We looked around on Instagram and decided to share our favorite finds – in terms of both tiles and shoes.

To tell the truth, we couldn’t uncover where exactly the colorful floor tiles that appeared in Budapest at the end of the 19th century originated. The technique and the style can be tracked back to Spain and Portugal, but the casting technique of the most common cement-based tiles was developed in France.

The technique had many advantages: it could easily make all stairwells unique, it was durable, and it provided high quality while being inexpensive. Usually, we can find these tiles in historic, eclectic, and Art Nouveau buildings, in an infinite variety of designs from classic Greek forms through geometric patterns to curly flowers and animals. Near some of the gates, we can also see various inscriptions or the building’s year of construction included in the design

When looking at what we’re walking on up-close, we can see that the architects and builders of the 19th century used different solutions to make the flooring in stairwells. The use of terrazzo tiles, which contain chips of marble, quartz, or other suitable material in addition to cement, was rather common. These 20×20-centimeter floor tiles make the illusion of being fragmented, similar to tiny mosaic pieces.

Terrazzo has another variation, which is cast on the spot so that the whole floor has a continuous pattern in the end.

The aforementioned French-developed cement tiles from the 19th century were also made in a 20×20-centimeter size, although their surface is much smoother, uniform, and they form mainly geometric patterns when it comes to design.

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Mettlach tiles were popular in the communist era, but were used earlier, at the turn of the century, as well. These floor tiles were made in somewhat smaller sizes than terrazzo or regular cement tiles.

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The most famous Hungarian mosaic and cement manufacturer used to be József Walla, whose adopted daughter married Miksa Róth, the era’s most popular stained-glass and mosaic artist. Walla’s works can be found in the Parliament, various market halls, and railway stations, as well as many private and public mansions.

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