Olympic champion swimmer Alfréd Hajós was originally an architect; one of his most important works is the National Swimming Stadium later named after him. The “Hungarian Dolphin” created his buildings following the Secessionist, the Eclectic, the Constructive and the Modern style.Alfréd Hajós was born in 1878 as Arnold Guttmann in Budapest, in a poor Jewish family. He studied at the Budapest University of Technology, and later he worked with renowned architects Ignác Alpár and Ödön Lechner. In 1907 he opened his own architect office. He created his buildings following the Secessionist, the Eclectic, the Constructive and the Modern style. Between 1894 and 1896 he took part in swimming contests as a member of the Hungarian Swimming Association. In the first modern Olympics, in 1896 in Athens he won the 100-meter and the 1200-meter freestyle, which made him the first Hungarian Olympic champion. Sport press referred to him as “the Hungarian Dolphin”. Besides swimming and architecture he was also a soccer player, a soccer referee and a journalist. He died in 1955 in Budapest.
His Most Renowned Buildings
He made plans for the Aranybika Hotel and the Lőcsey High School located in Debrecen, the UTE Stadium in Újpest (now the 4th district of Budapest) built in 1922, the Millenáris Sport Centre located in the 14th district, the Miskolc Sport Centre, the Weidlich and the Lichtenstein Palace, the Szeged Swimming Association’s Swimming Pool built in 1930 and the National Swimming Stadium later named after him.
The Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium
The National Swimming Stadium located on Margaret Island was built in 1930 according to the plans of Hajós, the construction cost 2 million pengős. The building was named Alfréd Hajós National Swimming Stadium in honor of its creator in 1975. In 1983 and in 2006 it was renewed. The facility has 4 open swimming pools and an indoor stadium of 3 pools. The latter was built by Hajós and the open pools by Pál Csonka in 1937. In 1958 a new training pool was built, in 1983 the swimming pool got a division wall, and in 2006 2 new pools, changing rooms and bleachers were built. Amongst other championships the 1958 European Aquatics Championship and the 2001 European Water Polo Championship were held here.
Sources:
hu.wikipedia.orgPhoto: farm5.staticflickr.com
