The Mountain Lodge Téry Hut Innovations in Alpine-Zone Architecture Téryho chata Inovácie v architektúre podsnežného pásma

FORUM FÓRUM Téryho chata bola najvyššie položenou stavbou v Uhorsku. Reprezentovala prichádzajúce 20. storočie, rozluku s eklektizmom a aplikovanie inovácií, ktoré sa naplno rozvinuli počas moderny. Chatu navrhol a postavil architekt zo Spišskej Soboty, Gedeon Majunke, ktorý bol jedným z najvýznamnejších tvorcov architektúry vysokotatranskej oblasti. Jeho tvorba bola charakteristická etapami, ktoré reagujú na atmosféru architektonického diania tatranských osád, kde sa eklektizmus voľne rozvíjal do reprezentačných objektov uhorskej aristokracie. Práve tie kontrastovali s výstavbou objektov horských chát, ktoré sa vyhýbali ako architektonickej intervencii, tak zbytočnosti ornamentu. Majunkeho architektúra sa v posledných rokoch oslobodila od fasádneho ornamentu, čo vidíme na príkladoch realizovaných kostolov v Tatranskej Lomnici, ale aj na príklade skúmaného objektu horskej chaty. Okolnosti vzniku Téryho chaty sú známe z dobových periodík Maďarského turistického spolku, z ktorých sa dozvedáme, ako sa spolok vysporiadal s nedostatkom financií na stavbu chaty, s problémom oponovania poľovníckeho združenia, alebo ako uvažoval o postavení chaty na Slavkovskom štíte. Zároveň vidíme proces, ktorý predchádzal samotnému návrhu. Chata vznikla na základe overovacieho projektu a vyzvanej súťaže v roku 1898. O procese architektonického navrhovania, prípravy realizácie a samotnej stavby chaty vieme z autorského článku architekta Majunkeho, ktorý ho publikoval v časopise turistického spolku Turisták Lapja v roku 1900. Návrh chaty bol výsledkom analýz a hodnotenia ostatných horských stavieb, implementáciou inovatívnych materiálov a reakciou na morfológiu terénu. Priestorová koncepcia vychádzala z prieskumu lokality a znalosti poveternostných podmienok. Architektúra, ktorú architekt vytvoril bez precedensu pôvodných štruktúr v takto vysoko položených horských oblastiach, bola v kontexte jeho tvorby redukciou na minimum, ktorou reagoval na možnosť stavby v náročnom teréne a na existenciálne potreby turistov v podsnežnom pásme alpínskych lúk. Priestorová koncepcia reagovala na dispozície domácej tradície, kým The Mountain Lodge Téry Hut Innovations in Alpine-Zone Architecture Téryho chata Inovácie v architektúre podsnežného pásma


Introduction
Until the 1930s, Téry Hut (Téryho chata) was the highest-elevation shelter in the High Tatra Mountains of Slovakia, marking the very first time that the architecture of the present-day territory of Slovakia reached the alpine zone 1 . Since then, the mountain lodge has attracted the interest of architectural historians, who have researched its 20 th century architecture and the way that such buildings were constructed on mountainside terrain.
The original project of Téry Hut (1899) by architect Gedeon Majunke is an example of the ideals that architects of his orientation sought in 20 th century architecture. 2 New findings have now emerged that put Téry Hut and its contribution to the mountain environment construction in a new light: these findings and their impact on the interpretation of the mountain lodge are the focus of this study. It explores the contribution made by József Pfinn, a Hungarian architect and engineer who was previously thought 3 to have designed Téry Hut by himself. Further, the study traces the design and construction by Majunke, the subject of prior research by architectural historian Maroš Semančík, and seeks to establish a connection with the Slovakian tradition as described by Henrieta Moravčíková.

Gedeon Majunke's work
Gedeon Majunke was a major design engineer in the architecture of the High Tatras in the late 19 th and early 20 th century. His designs emerged in response to the architectural atmosphere and the popularity of the mountain chalet style common in Switzerland yet also present in the contemporary High Tatras. When Majunke first started creating architectural designs in the 1880s, he concentrated on constructing timber-framed buildings. In the next decade, he began testing the possibilities of log structures and their architectural morphology. At the same time, he experimented with flat sod roofs, 4 to complement the sharply angled roofscape of the buildings. A significant moment came in the final decade of the 19th century when he built Téry Hut and two churches in Tatranská Lomnica without any facade ornamentation. Having designed and constructed a sanatorium at Tatranská Polianka, by the early 20 th century he adhered firmly to the pure form of exposed brick, with ornamentation reduced exclusively to the terraces and loggias, which mirrored his previous creative periods. 5 Majunke's talent was evident in the many contemporary periodicals that highlighted his work and also publicised the honours bestowed upon him by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Later, he would be engaged by Gyula Andrássy to reconstruct the Betliar manor house 6 . In 1882 -83, he was commissioned by the Bank of Késmárk to construct buildings in the recently developed settlement of Alsótatrafüred, now the resort town of Dolný Smokovec in the Tatra Mountains. 7 In 1884, he joined the building commission of the Hungarian Carpathian Association (Magyarországi Kárpát Egyesület -MKE), the oldest of the Tatra mountain societies 8 and later, as head of MKE's building commission, he supervised the construction of other huts in the High Tatras. 9 In 1891, he was put in charge of designing another mountain lodge presently called Chata pri Zelenom plese 10 and reconstructing the roof of Sliezky Dom. 11 Majunke's architectural designs have been evaluated as a combination of vernacular traditions and modern construction 12 and, as clearly visible at Téry Hut, they rely more on local traditions than copying models from the Alps themselves 13 .

Mountain architecture and mountain lodges
The High Tatras have been a region with international ambitions ever since the start of their development as a recreational centre and climate spa. 14 While the architectural evolution in the region was mainly driven by the Hungarian nobility, a major role was played by the local Zipser German population. At the turn of the 20 th century, architecture in the Tatra Mountains was the outcome of an "eclectic freedom of choice" 15 , inspired by Alpine architecture and especially new developments in the Swiss Alps. On the other hand, the utilitarian and rather spartan construction of the mountain huts contrasted with the ornamental facades of the spa hotels, whose noblesse displayed to visitors the affluence of Austria-Hungary's aristocracy and ruling classes. Similarly, the buildings in these mountain settlements were furnished to reflect the current architectural scene, while the equipment of the mountain huts remained rudimentary if not primitive.
Téry Hut joined the network of hiking accommodations in the High Tatras as the 20th hut to be built in the mountains, and the twelfth providing accommodation for hikers, demonstrating a commitment to developing the region into a destination for hikers and climbers seeking a challenging terrain. Moreover, it was the first ever mountain lodge built in the alpine zone, making it unprecedented at the time of construction. And it was one of the few tourist accommodations in the High Tatras to have been professionally designed and built according to specifications. Other huts previously built to accommodate hikers that have since disappeared mostly stood in the subalpine, montane, and forested zones, which offered plenty of wood for construction. Both the presence of construction material and the level of craftsmanship in the buildings found in such mountainous terrain meant that the huts remained as self-built shelters from the period before the tourist colonization.
When Téry Hut was completed, nine huts were already situated in the higher-altitude areas of the High Tatras region; seven of them could accommodate hikers overnight, while the remaining two were used as additional buildings. All the other mountain lodgings had burnt down or been destroyed by avalanches, or else were no longer used by hikers had simply lost interest and left to fall into disrepair.

Innovations at the turn of the century
What first made the Tatra Mountains more accessible were innovations in transport. When train service began in 1871 on the Kaschau-Oderberger Bahn, 16 the High Tatras suddenly became significantly more accessible to hikers and other tourists. The path now known as the Cesta Slobody (Trail of Freedom) opened in 1885 and the next year the first cog railway started to transport tourists to what is today Štrbské Pleso. The Hungarian Carpathian Association was established in 1873.
Equally, the final decades of the 19th century were marked by innovations in civil engineering and construction. Concrete constructions were developing, steel production was increasing and in 1889, the first Portland cement factory in Hungary was established in Lédec (now Ladce). Architects were also experimenting with flat roofs supported by previously unused materials such as timber-concrete, tarred building cardboard and asphalt. 17

Circumstances behind the design of the mountain lodge at Päť Spišských plies
Construction of Téry Hut was financed by the Magyar Turista Egyesület (MTE -Hungarian Tourist Association), which had split from the Budapest chapter of the Hungarian Carpathian Association in 1891. The mountain lodge would be subsequently named after Ödön Téry, then the vice chairman of the MTE. 18 In 1889, the Budapest chapter of the Hungarian Carpathian Association expressed its own desire to construct accommodations in the High Tatras, for which Téry suggested a location at the present-day Päť Spišských plies, which was later taken up by the newly established MTE. Due to funding issues, the site was eventually moved from Malá Studená dolina to Slavkovský štít, where the MTE was supposed to build an observation station for the Meteorological Institute, a location change allowing for the financing of construction of a mountain lodge. Eventually, the Hungarian Carpathian Association would be engaged to build the observation station and the MTE withdrew its intention to build accommodations at Slavkovský štít, returning the project back to Malá Studená dolina. Accordingly, the MTE had to forfeit the promised funding. Negotiations with landowners commenced in 1897, by which time the MTE was finally able to raise enough money through public fundraisers to finance the construction. The MTE committee in charge of construction was composed of Imre Lintner, Jenő Szmrecsányi and József Pfinn, together with local forester Gyula Förster, while attorney Károly Hitsch settled the project with local officials in nearby Felsőerdőfalva (now Stará Lesná) and the land registry office.
By this point, a contractor had to be sought through the 19 th century equivalent of a tender invitation, who would then be working from designs that had been drawn up by József Pfinn. 19 Architects Emil Schwarz, Gusztáv Husz and Gedeon Majunke were all invited to submit tenders. Schwartz opted not to participate and Husz failed to provide supporting documents, while Majunke agreed on the condition that he would undertake the assignment with no further competition, leaving his hand free to submit his own design. These conditions were imposed without any fees charged and eventually an agreement was concluded between him and the MTE to budget the construction of the lodge at a stipulated amount to be covered by the MTE (6,000 guldens), with any additional funds to come from Majunke's own pocket. The design he had received from Pfinn was understood to be only preliminary, as it had to be adaptable to the terrain and local conditions where it would be built. Majunke's design could accommodate more people, and thus offered larger capacity, than what Pfinn had envisaged. For this reason, József Pfinn's role in contributing to the design is understandably more of a preview foreshadowing the construction than as of his co-participation as a designer along with Majunke.
In 1898, the site was surveyed, with the intended building plot staked out at the top of the moraine wall where the hut would be safe from avalanches. Opposition was voiced by the hunting association, which demanded the site be moved below the moraine so as not to scare away the chamois. The situation was resolved with the help of Károly Hitsch, János Kullmann and an agreement not to plaster the façade.

The process of architectural design
The design of the hut was preceded by Majunke's analysis of existing mountain lodges. 20 He analysed potential problems that would be encountered, identifying any defects that could have been caused from cutting corners to save money or by the general unprofessionalism of the craftsman that had built them. He designed a building that he expected to be free of any maintenance demands, to avoid the burden of later repairs and cost overruns.
Manjunke's concept of the nature of the mountain lodge's architecture was derived from his awareness of the instability and variability of mountain conditions, unpredictable weather, and changes in terrain morphology. While he perceived the mountain environment as continually in flux, he planned the lodge, in contrast, as permanent and stable. He clearly differentiated the dialogue between the lodge and the environment through a closed and architecturally composed interior versus an open exterior left in its untouched form with no intervention or reshaping. The architecture responded to the materials provided by the locality, the morphology of the terrain and local traditions. The local granite served for masonry, while the gravel was used as an admixture for the concrete. Differentiation in the layout was based on breaks in the terrain. Guest rooms were to be located on the upper floor, which was built atop the ground, while service areas, like administration and the guide rooms, would be situated on the floor level partially sunk into the ground. 21 The flat boulders encircling the hut formed multilevel exterior terraces. Majunke rejected the common feature of semi-enclosed porch, not imagining it as justifiable in an alpine-zone environment. The entry space, possibly previously understood by the roofing as an "exterior staircase" 22 , was a fully enclosed linear access space. The link between local traditions in the different regions and the spatial concept like the linear access space or the gánok 23 of Slovak folk architecture can be traced as a diagram in the layout.
The roof and ceiling construction was Majunke's own response to weather conditions at the site. Opposed to traditional vaulted ceilings and trusses, the construction was very innovative, consisting of a steel beam ceiling and a two-segment roof. He consulted the wind direction with two mountain guides, János Kirner and János Hunsdorfer, and specifically discussed the shape of the roof with engineer Ferencz Ilgner. Instead of slab roofing for the staircase and corridor, Majunke accepted Ilgner's structural correction of the design and shaped the roof like a segmental arch. Majunke was highly aware of the lodge's purpose and the challenge of its construction. He thought about defining an "architecture of necessity" both in the volume of space and the method of its furnishing. He suggested placing an emergency indoor toilet on the second floor, though recommending its use only in exceptional circumstances, as the "proper" outdoor privy was located west of the Hut. Reduction of volumes and the search for the most minimal quantities necessary are both noticeable in how the interior of the hut was furnished and in the interior itself. Majunke furnished the lodge with "light Thonet chairs", and rectangular tables around which six chairs could be placed, while clothes could be kept on shelves or hung on hangers along the wooden panelled walls. Besides the tables and chairs, the use of beds with metal grates allowed him to take advantage of the low weight in general of all the furniture. A washbasin in each bedroom allowed guests to practise proper hygiene, while wood panelling protected them from the damp and cold stone walls and heating elements kept them comfortably warm. Inside the hut, the dining room had both a longitudinal double steel beam and an exposed segmental roof.
The option of expanding the lodge was considered in the architectural design to cover any increase in capacity, but Majunke preferred the idea of building another, separate building if the need to expand ever arose.

Transporting the material and preparing for construction
Instead of using local porters, materials were moved to the site with the help of horses, people from distant villages and former railway workers. The masons building the lodge were headed by Sam Petreas, whom Majunke had engaged to build a shelter for the site crew near Ohnisko 24 . Petreas used traditional masonry methods applied earlier in lower subalpine and montane zones, but not matching the level of quality Majunke demanded at the higher elevation where the shelter was supposed to stand: the thin walls would rapidly become filled with moss. 25 In working with the horses, the main obstacle Majunke had to overcome was not so much the difficult terrain, which the horses could manage quite well, but instead their fear of the noise from the roaring waterfalls. To avoid them, he blazed a new hiking trail 26 using explosives to cut into the rock.
The material was first stored in Hrebienok, then as now the site of a mountain resort hotel, hence it can be presumed that it was accessible by road. The material was also stored in a shelter near Ohnisko, about two to two-and-a-half hours away from the resort. Material continued to be transported to the site but not stored there until the end of the summer of 1898, once the ceiling for the first storey of the mountain lodge had been put in place. Eventually, a total of 51 tonnes of building material and almost three tonnes of construction equipment would be brought to the site.

Building the mountain lodge at Päť Spišských plies
Though a traditional stone building, the lodge was designed to match the progress achieved from the Industrial Revolution and technological discoveries, all of which had incrementally launched an upgrading of how buildings were constructed and pointed the way to the innovations that arrived in the 20 th century. Like many other mountain huts and lodges in the alpine zone, Téry Hut uses stone walls, yet the construction of its roof was innovative and can even be considered experimental compared to other buildings constructed at higher elevations of the Alps and Tatras.
Explosives were used to carve out the building's foundation, Portland cement bound the stone together because of its technical advantages over Roman cement. The ceilings and the roofs were made of reinforced concrete with rabitz 27 netting: the netting was laid on a grid of steel beams inside the reinforced concrete for the roof and ceilings, which enabled Majunke to design less bulky cross-sections. The roof's segmental arch was covered with a wood-cement composite to protect it against frost and moisture. In turn, this fibre cement was protected from the sun by a layer of gravel and another of sod. As a result, Majunke was able to create an extensive segmental turf roof 28 underlain with concrete on a grid of steel beams.
The interior of the building was architecturally designed out of necessity, with decisions were taken to consider all aspects of the physical environment. The challenging terrain and the complications of hauling materials to the site inspired Majunke to recycle the wooden planks he had used as the formwork for the concrete, reworking them as floorboards, wall panelling, or doors. As he had originally wanted to use xylonite for the flooring, the use of recycled boards turned out to be the only recorded change in the design for economic reasons. At the same time, the walls were supposed to be lined with cork boards, but they were not used because of the difficulty of installation. Another contemporary source mentions the decision against of the cork boards, and a kind of guarantee Majunke: the cork boards would be installed if the lodge showed structural signs of dampness over the next two years. 29 When the bill was finally settled, the cost of construction was calculated at 18,669.66 crowns. Majunke had overspent the budget by 50%. 30

Téry Hut operated by the Magyar Turista Egyesület
When Téry Hut was first opened, it was used by hikers only during the summer season. Contemporary records mention that József Pfinn made an inspection of the lodge and analysed whether any changes or adjustments would have to be made. 31 Two years later, the MTE reported Téry Hut to have still been in good shape after two winters. During this time, a number of wardrobes, a coffee grinder and carpets around the beds were added. Discussions had also begun about whether a cellar should be dug outside the hut and a gutter installed at its back wall. Majunke resigned as manager two years after the lodge opened, despite efforts by the MTE's directors to persuade him to stay.
In 1902, lightning struck the chimney, damaging it. Additionally, signs of moisture were found seeping into the staircase wall. The first, partial reconstruction of the roof took place in 1904 when the segmental arch's "asphalt layer" above the staircase was covered with shingles.
Further repairs and renovation were announced in 1911 in a press release, which showed that the roof needed to be reconstructed, with talk of replacing the old roof with sheet metal, though was not clear in the release which part of the segmental roof was affected. Other reports from the MTE suggested the installation of double-glazed windows to replace the original ones and the conversion of the dining room into an emergency overnight room, doubling the lodge's capacity.
Identification of the defects in 1911 developed a year later into a debate about a wooden extension to the building. The issue of the strong mountain winds seemed secondary to the problems faced with the dampness inside the lodge. Antal Plökl and Hans Klauser compared the conditions in the stone building with those in the wooden huts where, according to them, there was no trace of moisture at all. As they stated themselves in their report, a wooden hut in the Malá Fatra range, 32 which they compared to Téry Hut's stone structure, was located "a few hundred metres lower in elevation". 33 Although the wooden extension to the Téry Hut was not built until the second half of the 20 th century, moisture compounded the problems during the many rainy days during the summer of 1912, during which some of the plasterwork was destroyed and required restoration.
Téry Hut was hardly mentioned in the hiking magazine during World War I, with only minor repairs to it reported. The architect who designed Téry Hut, Gedeon Majunke, died in 1921. Téry Hut would remain the property of the MTE until 1931 when it was sold by them to the Czechoslovak government.

Conclusion
Creating a metaphorical response to the site where it was constructed, Téry Hut transforms its environment into a volume of the spatial whole. The massive outer walls, composed of solid Tatra granite, contrast with the subtle horizontal construction enclosed by them. Téry Hut is an exceptional example of how new construction processes and technologies were tested in extreme mountain conditions, creating a tension between tradition and innovation as much as between the permanent and ephemeral, while expressing the permanence of safe shelter in a constantly changing mountain environment. Gedeon Majunke took advantage of the timeless construction methods the building industry would apply during the 20 th century, and he fundamentally influenced the form modern architecture would take. Téry Hut is considered innovative not just because of the construction materials and processes used, but also from its architectural design. Responding to the environment, the design set off a dialogue between the inside and outside of the building. In the scale of mountain architecture, Téry Hut is seen as an architectural landmark, seeking inspiration in the past and leading to regionalist expressions of (proto)modernism. The design was innovative not just within the Tatra Mountains, but throughout pre-war Hungary. Indeed, the relevance of constructing a stone building in the alpine zone was later affirmed with the construction of subsequent mountain lodges that share with Téry Hut the same essence in the material used to erect them. The problems encountered there, especially with dampness, are the consequence of several aspects such as the absence of structures in the alpine zone in the late 19 th century that could have been benchmarks.
Within the context of the development of alpine architecture in the Tatra Mountains and the Alps, parallels can be traced in building methods and construction materials, as well as the evolutionary processs of the functioning of the lodge. Overnight shelters for climbers and hikers are undergoing social changes as they turn into day-hike destinations and become more like refreshment and small restaurants than the climbers' overnight shelters they are supposed to be. 34 In the present day, the nature of Téry Hut's architecture is entering a volatile period when exceptional design is notably vulnerable to the mass tourism of the 20 th century and further developments in the 21 st century. Recent extensions neither respect the thoughtful, transparent and rational layout of the original hut, nor its character, which was derived from the environment in which it stands. The original essence of the mountain lodge's construction is significant and deserves to be protected, and at the same time can be inspiring when taking the next step for Téry Hut and other huts and lodges in the High Tatras.