In Bratislava, Slovakia, a raised highway also runs right through the historic district; the heavy traffic roars almost over the doorstep of a large cathedral.This highway connects the downtown commercial core with the villages of concrete housing blocks across the river, where the majority of the population lives. These housing blocks are the most obvious remaining physical presence of former com- munist rule. Approximately ten stories, the apartments sometimes edge a small square of dead grass, the ‘green space’ for the buildings’ residents.
One of the strangest housing blocks that I visited was in Budapest. Setting out in search of Roman ruins that still exist in Obuda, one of the city’s oldest districts, the first we came across were located right inside the metro sta- tion. One could just make out the ruins of Roman baths under the dim fluorescent lighting and through the scratched plexiglas wall that separated the site from the station entrance walkway. Small stone reliefs were mounted on the metro walls, as if it was an art gallery, and covered in graffiti like much of the city of Budapest. Outside, we made our way to another Roman ruin that was reported to exist nearby. We found these remains of the ancient city located right in the middle of a cluster of housing blocks. In fact the ruins were over- grown and seemed to now be the park space for the inhabitants of the apartments. A man was walking his dog over the uneven stones. It struck me as a completely different attitude toward history, or to the preservation of his- tory. I am used to seeing such things fenced off from the outside world, and paying an entrance fee to enter. Here they exist in some peoples’ backyard, or in the metro station they use every day.
This area of east central Europe has a long his- tory of religious and political struggles, and of people who made incredible sacrifices for their country. I asked one of my English students what the biggest difference is in everyday life since the fall of communism. He said that it is in the clothes that people are wearing and in the buildings that are now built. He said the people of the older generation still find value only in the function of things. The new genera- tion is concerned with aesthetic value, and so it is a completely different way of thinking from before. He asked what I would tell friends in Canada about the Czech Republic, and I talked about the amazing history of the place. He replied that everyone who visits speaks of the history, and nothing of the present. And from my conversations I have found that the Czech people I met carry with them a strong under- standing of their history, yet they are constantly looking toward the future, toward the possibili- ties and to what they hope their country will become.
Orianne Johnson, a recent graduate of B.E.D.S. in Architecture, Dalhousie University, is presently working for Oberto Oberti Architecture and Urban Design, Vancouver, B.C.
ON SITE review 6: BEAUTY
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