National Identity and Architectural Expression

The interior design of a building provides critical insights into its historical and cultural context. This study examines the architectural and symbolic relationships among two Nationality and Heritage Rooms in the Cathedral of Learning—the Yugoslav and Hungarian Rooms. The research explores how the Hungarian and Yugoslav Rooms illustrate the influence of nation-state formations after the First World War, emphasizing the relationship between national identity and architectural expression. Particular attention is given to the underrepresentation of ethnicity in the decision making and the interior design of the Yugoslav Room, and the integration of folk and neo-baroque elements in Hungarian architecture in case of the Hungarian Room. This research was conducted within the framework of a Fulbright Scholarship and was initially presented at the University of Pittsburgh’s Hungarian Heritage Room. Further findings were shared at the forty-eighth conference of the American Hungarian Educators Association at Rutgers University, where the study was awarded the Research Presentation Award.