Scripted Space, Lived Reality

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between architecture, ideology, and lived experience through the case study of the József Attila Housing Estate in Budapest, Hungary. The research focuses on whether architecture can truly shape thought and behaviour, or lived experience ultimately redefines the space. Built just after the Second World War, the estate is an excellent case study as it represents core socialist values. Equality, collectivism, and uniformity were the new driving forces of everyday life. This estate features prefabricated panel buildings surrounded by communal outdoor spaces, all made to foster an ideal socialist community. However, reality was far more different. An analysis of three different building scales —building, urban, and social —reveals the gaps between planned design and everyday reality. This research relies on archival materials, site visits, photographs, and oral interviews to make its case. There is a consistent misalignment between the designer's intention and the actual use of spaces by their inhabitants, as the analysis reveals. Designated communal spaces often remained underused, while informal, intimate spaces like the stairwell or the front of the house became spaces of interaction. These contradictions reveal that architecture is not fully capable of controlling its users; it can only set the scene. Residents adapted and reimagined their spaces. Rather than seeing the estate only as a failed utopia, this thesis argues for a more complex and deeper point of view. This paper challenges the architectural canon's neglect of ordinary housing by recognising both the limitations of planning and the different ways in which people have shaped daily life. It argues that spaces like the József Attila Estate are essential to understanding how architecture is truly lived, not just designed.