JÓZSEF HILD

József Hild (December 8, 1789, Pest – March 6, 1867, Pest) was a famous Hungarian architect. Being one of the major exponents of neoclassical architecture of that time and he played an important role in the remodelling of Pest. Our school was named after József Hild in 1967.

HILD DAY

Hild Day is a very important event in the school life. It is organized every year, and its aim is to help students to get a deeper insight into architecture with the help of lectures presented in two different venues by famous and successful people who earlier attended Hild.

The organization begins with a presentation given by an alumnus of our school. The most important problems of architecture and design are mentioned here, such as sustainable development, energy efficient costruction and connection between modern architecture and vernacular tradition. Later on the students can meet ex-students and listen to two more presentations in their classrooms.

These events are interesting and moreover useful, because the students can form their own opinion and have their own viewpoint on architecture. The theoretical knowledge becomes more realistic when the students get acquainted with practical experience.

DAY OF BUILDING TRADE

Day of Building Trade takes place every year in our school. The classes have the opportunity to visit factories or firms of the construction  industry. e.g. Holcim concrete factory, Leier building material factory, Maltech which sells and repairs work mobile scaffoldings.

The leaders of these companies give presentations on how they have achieved their aims and students can talk and ask them about their experiences.

SPAGHETTI BRIDGE

‘A spaghetti bridge is pretty much what it sounds like: a small scale model bridge made of spaghetti or other hard, dry noodles affixed with nothing more than heated commercial glue.’ ‘Architectural and engineering students construct bridges as simple, cost-effective educational experiments. The aim is usually to build a bride able to sustain a load with a specific quantity of materials over a specific span.’ Our students are successful in building spaghetti bridges. In 2009 in Argentina one of our most successful ex-student  Norbert Pozsonyi won the first prize and shattered the previous Spaghetti Bridge world record with a bridge that weighed 982 grams and held 443,58 kg.¹ A local Spaghetti Bridge-Building Competition takes places in our school in every year, and students have the possibility to improve their knowledge.

1. The Talent Daily 7^th-9^th April 2011 Budapest

LEONARDO PROJECTS

TALLINN, WIENER NEUSTADT

Some students of our school with the participants of two other countries took part in a Leonardo mobility project during the last two years. The title of the project was “ Energy saving architecture yesterday, today, tomorrow.” The theme of energy saving architecture is actual in a broader sense and has aroused a lot of public interest. As the topic correlates past and present with an eye to the future on the one hand, folk architecture and vernacular buildings could be in the focus and how we can take advantage of the vernacular experiences in the modern energy efficient design. The environmentally friendly materials and construction techniques of the previous periods are more and more in the centre of attraction of modern alternative architecture. The aim was to experience a mutual connection between past and present techniques being able to adopt them to the latest tendencies in modern architecture with the help of this project. The students got new knowledge about the vernacular buildings and their traditional building materials, about the replacement of wooden construction details and preventive conservation in the Open Air Museum of Tallinn, Estonia. It was properly related to their vernacular studies at our school. With the students of Tallinn Construction School they had practical work in the school’s workshops on being able to make lower the power handling capability input of previously built average houses. In Wiener Neustadt, Austria the students acquired the usage of latest techniques in energy saving architecture and the process of their design in their high quality workshop and lab. The students could take advantage of their useful and complex experiences in their studies and later in their work.

They could get acquainted with passive solar building design and energy efficient landscaping. Each Hungarian students had an Austrian partner and each team had to design a residential area with energy efficient and passive houses. First year the lay outs were made, next year they made site- plans and sectional drawings. Later they prepared the detailed drawings. Certainly they prepared models as well. Teachers and engineers helped them with this work. Furthermore, there were different lectures and they could visit factories and they got practical experience, too.

SZENTENDRE CAMP

AND

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

An important aim of our school is to provide the students with an overall knowledge about the old days of Hungarian architecture. One of the best places for this purpose is the Open Air Museum in Szentendre.

Every year there is a one- or two-week-long camp for our students there. The students are not only visitors but they also carry out renovating work on the farmhouses. In this way they can get closely acquainted with the old structures. Therefore the cooperation with the Museum means learning about the past, parallel with the preservation of values of modern architecture, which is very important nowadays.

Last but not least, in the focus of all activities, camps and practical experience there is nothing more importanat but sustainable development.