Hungary (Budapest)

Museum of Applied Arts Budapest: White Majolica Moorish Arch and Atrium Gallery Detail

2523

Designed and completed between 1893–1896 during the Hungarian Art Nouveau (Magyar Szecesszió) period, under Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos.

Structurally, the horseshoe arches transfer vertical loads from the upper floor slab to the piers below, while the ornamental spandrel panels fill the triangular zones between arch intrados and the rectangular framing above. Symbolically, the white majolica horseshoe arches evoke the great Islamic palace halls of Andalusia (particularly the Alhambra), asserting a lineage of applied arts excellence from medieval Islam through to Budapest's modern cultural institutions.