this post was submitted on 10 Jan 2024
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Kelenföld Power Station is an abandoned power plant control room in Hungary. Built in the 1920s, it's a beautiful example of Art Deco industrial architecture and features a dramatic oval-shaped room lit by a large skylight. The plant originally ran on coal but was converted to natural gas in the 1970s. Much of the original control equipment remains intact on the green metal wall panels. A concrete bunker housed an air raid shelter during World War 2, underscoring the control room's role in a critical infrastructure at a turbulent time.

Designed by two prominent Hungarian architects, site is protected under Hungarian law and so cannot be demolished. This does mean it also can't be restored and maintenance is difficult. It is occasionally open to tours and also film shoots, apparently.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The full powerplant is not abandoned, only these parts are not used anymore, but they don't demolish them because it's a protected monument.

Originally it was a coal powerplant, in the 1970s they switched to gas, adn these control rooms not used since that. They also use it for district heating nowadays.

Hungarian wiki is also very detailed about it: https://hu.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelenf%C3%B6ldi_Er%C5%91m%C5%B1

You can try to read it with an online translator: https://hu-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Kelenf%C3%B6ldi_Er%C5%91m%C5%B1?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=hu&_x_tr_pto=wapp

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

district heating

How big an area? I've only seen that on college campuses and military bases before in the US.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

In Europe those often cover whole cities.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's cool. Good use of waste heat. We're too NIMBY and adverse to paying for infrastructure that takes time to pay off. Much more efficient to do it centrally and extract power than use cooling towers at power plants and wasting your exhaust heat out of chimneys in home furnaces.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

4 huge housing estates with "commie blocks" get heating from here, and a lot of older parts of Buda was retrofitted with district heating in the 70s. I couldn't find exact numbers, but around 1-200000 people live in these parts of the city.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

I love art deco. In Amsterdam, you have this beautiful cinema called Tuschinski. That is really nice as well:

More photos at the bottom of this site.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I love Art Deco too. I've been to the Atlas Bar in Singapore which is amazing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

It looks beautiful! I would love to see it in real life sometime.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Sorry, something went wrong with the copying and pasting. I fixed it now. Thanks!

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This picture reminds me of the latest Loki lesson

[–] uservoid1 5 points 10 months ago

Even though the control room doesn’t fulfill its function, it’s sometimes being used as scenography for various movies. Spy, Dracula, and the Chernobyl Diaries were recorded there.

[–] uservoid1 9 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Thanks! I'd originally found this under the name "Special k" but I discovered it's Kelenföld and edited in some other links in as you were posting.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

We really need more art deco in the world.

[–] crittecol 6 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Why did we stop making stuff sick like this?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm guessing it's expensive, like all the Gothic embellishments?? I've no real experience out data, though - just a hunch

[–] crittecol 1 points 10 months ago

I mean you're definitely right in that the answer in one form another is money, but lame

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Most of the walls are the control system of the power plant. Those were much more analog. Nowadays digital SCADA systems control the plant, and you can fit the same amount of information in just few PC displays, because in PC you can just jump between screens digitally.

That ceiling is definitely just artistic, and it does look awesome.

[–] crittecol 3 points 10 months ago

So that architecture wouldn't hold the same technical responsibility and it would take less effort to make it look nice!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

Bioshock vibes

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Very cool! Looks very similar (albeit fancier) to Fawley power plant (sadly demolished) in the UK. I was lucky enough to spend some time there and had an amazing time exploring and sliding around the polished floor on office chairs!

[–] Maultasche 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Wasn't that used in the new Munsters remake?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

This is lovely - thank you for sharing it!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

This is such a cool place. I went to a concert here years ago, it has surprisingly good acoustics too!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Looks like a brilliant location for a music video shoot

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

I think the game Soma used this location in one of their set pieces. At least it looks very familiar.