The largest indoor complex in Hungarian railway history, a system of vast covered spaces unique in Europe, the Northern Railway Maintenance and Engineering Works was built between 1884 and 1886. After years of alterations and renovations, starting from 2020 it is now home to the Hungarian State Opera’s new logistics and art centre.
The Hungarian State Opera and the Erkel Theatre are to gain a new art studios and rehearsal centre. Establishing and equipping the new centre as well as preparing the refurbishment of the Opera House in Andrássy Avenue is to be financed by the government.
The Eiffel Hall was originally designed by János Feketeházy. Born in Vágsellye in 1842, he studied engineering at the Vienna University of Technology, later in Zurich. In 1866 took part in the constructions of the Kanal İstanbul and the bridge between Vienna and Stadlau over the River Danube as an intern. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, he started working for the Hungarian Royal State Railways.
Although the details of the idea changed over time, one thing was certain from the very outset of the project: the Eiffel Art Studios was to pay homage to the building’s past rooted in railway history, using a steam locomotive to remind visitors of the works that had once been carried out in the workshop. And even if it is just a single locomotive...
Over the course of the Opera’s 135-year history, there were never any developments that compared to the opening of Eiffel Art Studios. However, a long time has to pass until the opera’s employees can take over each of the rooms in the gigantic complex. To help them, and to help the audience, the more important areas and rooms will be named after greats of the Hungarian Opera.