ANGOL NYELVŰ ÖSSZEFOGLALÓK, ENGLISH SUMMARY

Bánáti + Hartvig Architects’

New Office Building For a firm of architects, designing and creating their own office building is a major event. Bánáti + Hartvig Architects moved into the building they created for themselves in the 25th year of their existence. This was a huge challenge which afforded the opportunity of creating, as their own client, a building that could present the architectural vision the firm fully identifies with. The office was conceived to have the least possible impact on the environment by following the principles of circular architecture. Reutilising an existing old building rather than burdening the environment with a new one was selfevident to the architects, thus a former restaurant built in the 1960s was converted. One aspect where the principles of circular architecture can be detected is the reuse of a number of construction elements destined for demolition in the building, sometimes with a different function. The external doors and windows did not meet today’s energyefficient insulation requirements, thus they were replaced. The steelframed glass portals, on the other hand, were in good condition, so they were given a new lease of life as dividing walls for the meeting rooms in the basement. Similarly, the glass bricks were removed from the upperstorey walls and were given a role in separating the meeting rooms. A few old radiators were also saved from destruction. The architects made a decision, unusual though it may seem, not to cover or paint anything simply for the sake of aesthetics. The areas revealed in the course of demolition were left in a bare state. The concrete beams and the brick walls are not covered or painted. The newly installed elements also show their original form, and the technical equipment and the ceiling sound insulation boards remain uncovered. Coverings were only used in places where it was architecturally essential. The combination of the precisely incorporated new building materials and the original pieces suggesting raw honesty results in a novel yet coherent form of aesthetics.

German School of Budapest and its Extension The building mass of the German School of Budapest forms a sundial. The face of the dial divided into twelve hours refers to the twelve years of schooling. The passage of time and the advancing shadow symbolise the years spent in school. Progress in time is accompanied by actual movement in space as the pupils move from one classroom to another as the years pass until they reach the final year. The spatial arrangement, apart from expressing this additional content, responds to the topographic characteristics of the densely wooded site with different levels. The uniform appearance of the structures built at different times also supports the consistency of the building complex. The new wing follows the structure and characteristic solutions of the already standing buildings (the listed neoclassical hunting lodge and the main building constructed in 2001) in the shaping of its forms and in its construction principles. However, in the use of materials and the design of details, it departs from the old with subtle references, indicating the temporal dimension of the process.

Detached House in District II “Dad, let’s never sell this house,” was the wish of the children recalled by the owner of the detached house in Budapest’s District II designed by Bánáti + Hartvig in the early 2010s. This desire expressed by a child clearly illustrates the warm, muchloved home the building conceals. The building bears the signs of modern architecture. Its interior spaces are practically divided according to function. The ground floor belongs to the day. This consists of a spacious openplan living room cum kitchen and dining room, providing a comfortable living space, as well as a study and guest room. The first floor houses the bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms and walkin wardrobes, thus this storey belongs to the night. The top storey with a smaller floor area provides space for recreation and relaxation, where a wellness unit has also been created. The fourth level, below ground, is that of the garage and storage rooms. The pergola running up the southwest façade adds variety to the monochrome, white building. This continues over the uppermost storey as a canopy, which both provides shade and has the function of actively connecting the setback top floor into the building’s design. The variety of appearance is further enhanced by the positioning of the large doors and windows, which create continuous contact with the garden surrounding the house. The building is situated on a plot with outstanding features, having been built on a flat hilltop with a panoramic view and a practical garden.

Aquincum Logistics Centre The client’s concept envisaged a logistics centre divided into two larger units – an office unit and a hall that includes the warehouse area. The main building, located on the side facing the street front, houses the offices and has a highstandard appearance befitting its purpose. Its atmosphere is defined by the red metal cladding, the steel pergola over the terrace on the top storey, the glass curtain wall, and the bridge connecting the parts of the building. A special value of the building is that the rooftop terrace offers a splendid view of the Buda hills. The features defining the form of the sixstorey main building presumably also influenced the streetscape that evolved in subsequent years. The warehouses were built inside the plot focusing on meeting functional needs. Besides the attractive main building, the logistics centre’s popularity can also be attributed to the flexibility of the warehouse building. The size and positioning of the doors and windows mean that the floor plan can be practically adapted, allowing the interior layout of each warehouse to be shaped flexibly. The units are also suitable for the creation of conveniently sized office spaces, as a result of which – in addition to the original concept whereby the offices are located in the main building – office units can be created in one block as part of the warehouses. For tenants, this is another positive feature of the centre.

Extension of the Embassy of India In the life of an architect, undertaking the first assignment independently is a decisive moment. In 1989, a few years after graduation, Lajos Hartvig was commissioned with a small, fiftysquaremetre extension of the Embassy of India. Little did he suspect then that over a decade later in 2000 he would be invited back to take charge of another largerscale extension of the building as a senior designer of the firm of architects Bánáti + Hartvig. The design work of the 1989 extension preserved the original style of the building, while for the subsequent extension the designers proposed modern architectural solutions which, at the client’s request, incorporated features evoking the spirit of Indian architecture. The designers worked with stylised Indian forms befitting the existing building. The extension’s most striking feature is the arched portal recalling the atmosphere of Indian temples, but its use of materials also refers to Far Eastern architecture. The structure, however, despite bearing the architectural signs of a distant culture, is primarily typified by modern dynamic massing adapting to the environment, with sizeable glass surfaces alternating with stone covering on the façade.

Reconstruction of the Drechsler Palace The building was constructed between 1883 and 1885 based on the plans of Ödön Lechner and Gyula Pártos. Its heyday did not last for many years. In 1909, the entire roof structure of the building was destroyed by fire. In the years following the reconstruction, further alterations were made. Tenants and owners came and went until the building fell into disuse in 2002. Thereafter, its condition gradually deteriorated. The palace is currently being reconstructed according to a historic building protection concept in parallel with the necessary building modernisation activities. The former tenement block will be reinvigorated as a member of the W hotel chain. As a result of this, based on the original structure, living quarters and catering units will be housed in the building. A catering space will open towards Andrássy Avenue, and the inner courtyard in the centre of the building will provide access to units of the hotel serving various functions. The hotel’s reception rooms, lobby, and catering and communal areas will be located on the ground floor; regeneration areas and service functions will be accommodated in the basement, and the rooms will be on the upper floors. In the attic, which has had no function until now, a new, fifthfloor room level will be created, while above this the building automation equipment will be installed. The roof structures of Lechner’s later buildings guided the design of the windows needed to provide natural light in the fifthfloor rooms: following the shapes of the Zsolnay ceramics used by him later, a transparent strip will appear in the plane of the roof of the Drechsler Palace ensuring the passage of natural light. A similar architectural and technical value is represented by the stretched membrane structure over the inner courtyard, which is completed by curved, tempered, insulating glazing. The transparent saddle surface stretches like a bubble between the walls of the inner courtyard, and its realisation promises to be a real attraction.

Thought Flow Regulator The design of the Thought Flow Regulator sculptural ensemble was drawn up by Lajos Hartvig DLA for the Love Budapest architectural concept competition in 2005. The sculptural ensemble endeavours to establish an interactive relationship between the Danube, people and the sculpture in which the river is the active party, the person is the observer, and the sculpture is a terrain to show the activity of the Danube. The work is arranged around three chapters: “Pay attention to it! Let it play! Work together!” These exhortations can be directed to three things: the Danube, Budapest or

another person. Pay attention to the Danube! Let the Danube play! Work together with the Danube! Pay attention to Budapest! Let Budapest play! Work together with Budapest! Pay attention to the other person! Let the other person play! Work together with the other person! What happens if we express these phrases as questions or in the conditional or indicative mood? It is thoughtprovoking which case would be the most suitable for the Danube, Budapest or the other person.

D8 Hotel Once a tenement block designed by István Medgyaszay stood at 8 Dorottya Street. The building was hit by a bomb and seriously damaged in World War II. During the current conversion of the building, the architectural concept counted on retaining the street front of the building, which enjoyed local protection, but this did not prove to be technically feasible based on the advice of structural engineers. This led to the demolition of the façade together with the other sections of the building and the construction of a new building, the D8 Hotel, in its place. Considering the increase in tourism in the capital, the investor commissioned the design of a threestar downtown hotel. The building’s mass is adapted to its purpose and the conditions of the varied, firewall surroundings. The basic mass is complemented by articulation aiding functionality. The street frontage adapts through its horizontal articulation to the similar behaviour of the historicizing environment, and the movement in depth of the windows evokes the relief of the city centre façades by contemporary means. Taking account of the building’s façade features and its logic, the lobby, which visually forms a single space with the breakfast room behind it that connects with the garden, has been positioned in the centre of the ground floor. The arrangement of the floor plan follows the same system from the first to the seventh floor. Adapting to the requirements of the threestar demand, identical rooms with a standard design are located on all levels, complemented by a family room on the north side.

Eden City Cyprus, Peninsula Resort The Eden City Cyprus project is a highly ambitious concept, an unrealised tourism development imagined for the Mediterranean. The investor envisioned a complex district. In the first phase, a subproject called Peninsula Resort would have been set up, which included apartments and a fivestar luxury hotel with a spa and wellness unit as its main function. The creation of restaurants, bars, nightclubs, shops and other services also featured in the programme. Conceiving the almondshaped buildings with an irregular form was an exciting professional challenge, but it also had a number of advantages as it allowed a great deal of light and air to enter the space between the buildings and maximized the size of the surface of the seaward façade. The whole of the curved façade is occupied by terraces. This, apart from the design aspects and the comfort of the residents, also has the practical role of providing shade against strong sun exposure. The northeastern front of the tower blocks away from the sea is made special by a large glass surface descending from the roof, a huge canopy – an extra external façade. In this way, the buildings are reminiscent of fish gracefully leaping towards the sea, reflecting the wildlife of the Mediterranean.

Reconstruction of the Tisza Lajos Office Building The history of the building at 15 Balassi Bálint Street is inseparable from that of the House of Parliament. The boiler house on its plot provides the heating for Parliament while civil servants used to reside in the tenement building. This building, like the House of Parliament, was designed by Imre Steindl and built in 1902. Since then, however, it has undergone several major alterations, which have not been to its advantage. Over recent years, the building has been completely reconstructed, and its façade and roof have been restored to their original condition due to the general design work of Bánáti + Hartvig Architects. The 20thcentury alterations to the building were preceded by an ammunition explosion damaging the roof structure during World War II. After this, the building was not restored to its original condition. During the reconstruction, another storey was added and the front gables of the roof were crudely truncated while later the statues together with their niches were removed. In recent years, the building has undergone interior and exterior reconstruction processes to enable its façade to regain Steindl’s form. The storey added at the end of the 1940s was demolished, thus the frontage again shows a relationship with the House of Parliament. The work was greatly assisted by the availability of some important drawings from the building’s original plans. Although these do not cover every detail, interpreting the archive documents was aided by the Parliament building, which served as a model for the reconstruction.

Apartment Building in Paulay Ede Street This innercity site is flanked by a fourstorey building to the left and a fivestorey one to the right. The former lies three metres further in than the latter and a 26.5metrehigh firewall rises on the rear border of

the plot. In this exciting spatial situation, the owner intended to erect an apartment block. The architects, in addition to fulfilling the investor’s purpose, had to respond with creative solutions to deal with the adjacent façades of different height and the varying depth of the street front. An arcade on the ground floor caters for the anomaly on the streetscape on the one hand, and on the other the large balconies connect the parts lying further in and further out not as a dense building mass next to the building situated three metres further inwards but rather as a unit offering a more airy, looser sight. The balconies also enable the problem of the frontages of different height to be overcome. The development is stepped with a balcony to abut with the lower building at 63 Paulay Ede Street, which creates a visual link with Liszt Ferenc Square functioning as a pedestrian area with many restaurant terraces. The contour of the upper terrace, the cornice and the ridge height of the apartment building marries with its neighbour on the other side at 67 Paulay Ede Street, thereby creating unity in the streetscape.

ASA Building at the Landfill in Gyál In contrast with more recent suburban industrial sites, the architects were able to make good use of the opportunities offered by the open, undeveloped area when designing the building in Gyál. The main trait of the building’s structural dynamics is the skilful handling of the massing that dissolves the strong horizontal articulation of the façade. The second storey protruding beyond the ground floor of the corbelled building structure and the open roof beams projecting even further illustrate an unusual construction approach. This unconventional structure becomes even more powerful upon noticing the rectangular wall overlays intersecting the horizontal lines or the vertical columns emphasising the corbelling effect. These overlays, additions, structural supports, supporting structures and projections move the mass structure in a characteristic manner. The multifaceted mass construction pervades the building with such uniform consistency that even the aluminium chimney structure made of an unbecoming material coming out at the top of the lower storey does not have a disturbing effect. The projection of the stairwell that breaks the rhythm of the construction in one place, but is essential due to its function, was positioned on the less emphasised rear façade, suggesting a good feel for architecture. The staircase connects the two storeys with a central corridor floor plan, the interiors of which are broken here and there by the columns observed on the main façade. In a sense these columns carry the basic design motifs inside the building, and the rib structure of the roof beams extending through the ceiling section of the upper floor has the same effect.

Kecskemét CAMPUS Educational Building When designing the campus, the architects’ aim was to create an institution that represents a forwardlooking trend in its functions, thereby meeting both current needs and the expectations which are likely to be present intensively in the future of education. The most striking examples of this are the large lecture hall and the stock exchange egg. The arrangement of the former can be flexibly adapted to serve groups of varying sizes practically: the hall is equipped with stage technology that converts the 500seat lecture theatre into three smaller spaces by rotating two circular floor areas with tiered seating. The stock exchange egg, suspended by wire ropes fixed at eight points in the aula, is the building’s unique feature in terms of functionality and architecture: a space within a space. The 13metrehigh steel object weighing almost 88 tons houses a tablet room and a stock exchange room. One of the building’s key virtues is its logical, easytograsp, clear floor plan. It quickly becomes obvious to people using the building where the distinctly separated functions are located. The building is divided into two basic units. Educational rooms are located on the north side and offices running the departments on the south side. These flank the spacious aula housing the stock exchange egg in the middle. The design concept created a convenient, practical spatial arrangement fostering balance for users. One goal of the campus development is to create a communityforming centre for the city.

Detached House in Zuhatag Street The hand of the architect shakes or, more precisely, should shake if tasked with planning in the immediate vicinity of the iconic Bauhausstyle houses on Napraforgó Street. Although the buildings, which are now almost a hundred years old, were the subject of scoffing criticism after their handover, their celebration has been continuous since then: these detached houses are unquestionable examples of early modernism. Time has not caught up with either their architectural appearance or their usability, while they have been appreciated not only by architects. Built in 2008, the new neighbour follows its predecessors in an elegant style. Although the designers did not have a pioneering role, they managed to tackle the difficult challenge of continuing the work of architects who are now regarded as great figures in the history of architecture, and to connect in a subtle

way with the rebellious approach of the 1930s that has retained its modernity ever since. Modern architecture over the last century has been accompanied by debates of varying intensity: the transitionless break with the traditional elements of architecture has never become fully accepted, but the freely structured spatial world, even in the case of a detached house, is an appealing inner milieu for everyone. The house on Zuhatag Street is a consistent continuation of this tradition, too: the flowing, intensively interrelated elements of the interior spaces dominate and, while the individual functions are not overly extravagant, their scale hardly differs from the proportions of an average house. And architecture apart, the most important thing after all is the value of the use and lovability of the home: this coolly elegant house gives the residents the chance to create their own living space where they gladly return home.

Vitalis Residential Park In addition to the village’s proximity to Budapest, Herceghalom’s setting makes it a highly appealing location – the views of the Etyek, Pilis, Gerecse and Buda hills do not disappoint. The Békás and Kígyós streams skirt the village and several branches of the latter run across the settlement. Woods and arable land provide a varied backdrop. The belt between one branch of the Kígyós stream and Herceghalom Park Forest was built up during the development of the area in the mid2000s and this is where Vitalis Residential Park is situated. Three types of apartment buildings and two rows of terraced houses provide the construction concept. Variety is created by adaptation to the terrain, shifting levels and the rotation of the building types. The buildings are arranged in groups described by the designers as clusters, imparting an individual identity to each unit. The clusters are comprised of between two and four apartment buildings, which are connected by an underground garage on the substructural level and also form a technical unity with each other. A priority in planning the residential park was to create a district with a calm living environment for the residents. This was mainly achieved by adapting the new buildings to the existing settlement pattern and engaging them in a dialogue with the surroundings – the Park Forest, the fields and the stream – while preserving the large green space, most of which belongs to the ground floor apartments’ own garden. In order to ensure the privacy of the gardens, the architects sunk the footpaths running between the plots a metre below the surface to prevent people using them from seeing into the private areas. Extensions of the Globall Hotel Intended mainly for use by the footballers of the Hungary national squad but also welcoming paying guests, the Globall Hotel was built in 2009 based on the designs of Sándor Bakonyvári. Although the main building of the sports centre and its architectural structure and principles were not defined by the architects of Bánáti + Hartvig, since 2013 they have added newer and newer elements to the existing building in progressive stages without dramatically overwriting its general appearance. The first new part which BH designed in 2013 was a stand with a capacity of 430 people next to the main training ground. At almost the same time as this addition, a new wing housing a swimming pool and wellness facilities was constructed in 2014. The westward extension of the main building containing the hotel rooms in 2016 continues the preexisting structure almost imperceptibly. The training hall built in 2018 is an extension, in the best sense of the word, to the gymnasium, which is treated as a basic feature. Enrichment: this is the word that most accurately describes the attitude of the architects extending this sports facility in Telki; the additions designed for the contemporary building are not strange excrescences which would be demolished with satisfaction to restore the “original” in a future major reconstruction, but are integral parts of a whole which add extra value to the building. Although the structure designed by Sándor Bakonyvári is only a few years older, the change in the spirit of the age that has occurred in the decade since laying its foundations is clearly apparent in the extensions added since then.

Green Court Residences Green Court Residences is a residential building complex whose massing and frontage is unique in Budapest’s condominium architecture. The architects designed the building in the spirit of elegance and generosity, a requirement of the client, which is most strikingly reflected in the formation of the façade with subdued colours but exciting geometry. The undulating geometric shapes of the balconies impart character to the façades. The slabs and the railings of the balconies protrude and recede in space, alternating direction outwards and inwards for each storey, bestowing rhythmic variation to the angularly bent planes. In designing the frontage, the treatment of the mass of the buildings at the corners of the plot was an exciting challenge. The plot’s irregularity invited the design of a chamfered and a sharp corner. The consistency of the geometric undulation of the façades could be retained by the repeated reversal of the zig

zag pattern at these points. This was also served by locating one apartment on each storey in the floor plan at the corners so as not to interrupt the balconies and the regular geometry of the frontage. As a result of the design of the façades, every apartment in the complex has a balcony, and thus the apartments on the higher floors are also in contact with the external surroundings, which is of outstanding value in an urban environment.

Reconstruction of the Wellisch Palace The traces of both history and the conversion works of insensitive designers left their mark on this once elegant building. After a while, this meant that the original grandeur of the palace could no longer be appreciated, hence the idea of renovating it rightly arose. The firm intention of the client was to restore the former façade facing Kossuth Square together with its enormous roof to its condition when built in 1912. During the restoration, two today conjoined buildings had to be harmonised in a way that the difference was discernible without the palace being strident. The block formed by Kossuth Square, Széchenyi Embankment, Zoltán Street and Akadémia Street consists of two buildings, both constructed in 1912. The one on the north side, towards Kossuth Square, is the Wellisch Palace, which bears the name of the architect who designed it, and that on the south side, the former building of the Pension Institute, was planned by Artúr Sebestyén. The reconstruction involved the demolition of the vulgar flat roof constructed after 1945 as well as the separate task of replacing the thus lost office space elsewhere. What is more, the roof facing the Danube of Sebestyén’s building regained its original contour while managing to retain the topstorey balcony overlooking the river. In the newly created interiors, the designers strove for a solution which did not attempt to imitate the language of Art Nouveau but conforms with contemporary office architecture characterised by practicality, restraint and elegance. The main entrance on the Kossuth Square façade is adorned by metal basrelief doors reconstructed by painstaking sculptural work based on a contemporaneous photograph of them when new. The visitor may only suspect that the year is not 1912 from the canopy above the entrance, which reflects Art Nouveau in its details but is contemporary to the core.

Árkád 2 Shopping Centre Two difficulties had to be confronted when designing Árkád 2: the new structure had to link up with the existing building, responding to its history and aesthetic characteristics, on the one hand, and, on the other, the already constructed presence of its broader environment had to be duly considered. There is no tension between the bodies of Árkád 1 and 2 but they form an architectural whole. The connection between the roof planes, which ensures passage between the two spaces and also solves the issue of parking by using the roof as opposed to the usual solution of an underground garage, is noteworthy. The extension also managed to react to the tower block context, imparting a stricter form language that puts linear structures to the fore. As regards the use of materials, mirroring Árkád 1’s main characteristic radiating the dominance of glass surfaces, Árkád 2 also uses glass, albeit to a much lesser extent. Instead, it builds far more on exploiting the polarity of colours and the contrast of material surfaces. A particularly exciting solution is the façade of the building facing the housing estate, where the mantlelike stone surface is broken by rows of gabions comprised of several units, thereby creating a much rougher surface compared to the stone covering of the mantle. Clearly, when creating the architecture, the aim was not a gesture of radical innovation or copying of the earlier building, but an interpretive reappraisal of space that is able to reflect and give shape to a decade of experience and changes while bearing in mind the imperative of continuity.

Atrium Apartment Building The Atrium was erected as the first building on what used to be a vacant plot at the junction of Tüzér Street and Lőportár Street. This condominium is the first building among BH’s works to use an atrium that lets light into part of a building affected by a dark area. The client initially viewed the atrium as wasted space but, thanks to the accord which evolved with the architects, the concept behind the design could become reality. This decision proved to be such a success that the apartment building was named Atrium after its central hall. Since then, BH has been using this architectural solution, which is also to be found in other buildings of the client. The Green Court Residences is another joint work that was also given a similar atrium. The building’s frontage is given vibrance by balconies of varied appearance: the apartments have loggias, Juliet balconies with railings and regular balconies, some with rails, others with glass balustrading, while the perimeter of yet others is formed by the external boundary wall. The vibrance of the appearance of the building is further enhanced by it not being crowned by a singlelevel cornice. Twostorey apartments are located on the uppermost section, which connect with large atriumlike roof terraces, thus the

façade of the building facing Tüzér Street ends in rhythmic steps up and down. The designers set back the uppermost storey on the Lőportár Street side to reduce its height visually. The value of the apartment building is increased by the elevated internal courtyard, offering direct access to the inwardfacing firstfloor apartments, while the other apartments have their own balcony.

Óbuda Mix Project The plans for the Óbuda Mix Project were drawn up for a competition to design a multifunctional building. The client imagined accommodating offices, a threestar hotel, a student hostel, a gym and catering units of varied standards in the building. However, a further requirement was that the different functions could be converted for office use with relative ease. In response, BH’s architects designed a building with an exciting shape incorporating three breaking points with a zigzag floor plan. The building height and the number of storeys increase from west to east, declining slightly after the last breaking point. Thanks to its massing, the building connects with nature at numerous points, which is strengthened by the transparent design of the frontage. Lamellae, whose extent is defined by the orientation of the façade, provide shading. This means that the presence of the lamellae on the south and west side is more intense in order to cope with the higher solar exposure while on the east and north façades they are discreetly restrained. Above all, the architects wished to solve the convertibility of the building complex into an office building by a communication network of a width that can satisfy all the functions that may be required. In its basic layout, the different functions are separated by the communication cores, so that each unit can be used independently and without interference but can also be combined if necessary. The architectural concept also considered the built environment of the area. The main point of reference is the neighbouring Graphisoft Park, whose buildings allow the viewer to follow the phases of contemporary architecture. BH’s architects also took this into account when drawing up the plans.

Reconstruction of the Gerbeaud Office Building In 1997, the Gerbeaud Office Building was renovated to provide modern rental office space. The building was in a very dilapidated state with obsolete engineering and its structure in pressing need of renovation and reinforcement. As the arrangement of the floor plan was outdated and illogical, a rational system for its layout was designed. After its renovation, the building serves the same two functions. The upper floors continue to operate as offices, while most of the ground floor and the basement is home to the Gerbeaud Patisserie. The rooms serving patrons of the patisserie enjoy historic building protection, hence they were restored and refurbished preserving their form and furnishings. The renovation of the firstfloor rooms from the 1920s took account of the architecturally valuable ceilings, wooden panelling and cohesive groups of rooms. On the upper floors, which had no features of any merit, there was greater opportunity to alter the size of the rooms. Whereas the red granite façade exuded exclusivity at the fin de siècle, today this stone’s use provokes debate. The owner wished to demolish the portal and restore the original 19thcentury arched façade. Protracted professional debates involving the building authorities ensued. Eventually, the concept of the façade created during the reconstruction in 1912 triumphed. This includes the shop windows and does not allow for the reintroduction of the earlier condition of the ground floor of the building in the created unit. The portal thus remained in its 1984 form. The building regained its former splendour as a result of the reconstruction process. It is full of life, vibrant and elegant, a befitting closure of the Váci Street axis and Vörösmarty Square.

Apartment Block on Fogarasi Road Fogarasi Road is noisy due to the fast moving cars, and buses and trolleybuses running according to timetables. Bánáti + Hartvig Architects were commissioned with designing a sevenunit apartment building on an empty plot in this busy street. Given the nature of Fogarasi Road, the designers placed a glass wall connected to the frontage of the building to abate the noise and dust. Besides lessening environmental impacts, the glass wall gives a special quality to the look of the building. This solution also ensured that the building was set back from the border of the plot, which further decreases the noise. Thus the building stands away from the edge of the plot yet the glass wall is positioned on the street front, preserving the original building line. Locating the staircase on the street front and the business premises on the ground floor opening onto the public area also serves to protect against the noise. The architecture of the apertures on the façade, the arrangement of the windows and their sliding shutters, produce a playful appearance. Depending on when the units are closed or open, the structures create an effect of shifting to and fro on the surface from time to time, thereby dressing the building in different ways.

Bautrans Transporta The concrete, aluminium and glass office building of Bautrans Transporta is characterised by the combination of two L shapes with entirely different inspiration: the more enclosed northeastern part is connected to the south and west by huge glass surfaces facing the sun’s path. However, these do not employ the usual articulation of a regular grid adapted to factory standards, but instead a composition of lying and standing shapes orchestrated by a firm hand reflects the clouds scurrying across the sky. In any case, the bold contrasts, the mass of the building and the flat roof hovering over it, the openness and closedness, the reactive interplay of planes and blocks make these headquarters daringly individual. What is more, these high standards, as is often the case, do not disappear moving from the site’s administrative zone to the “industrial” zone as the service hall was not spared the aesthetic investment either.

Apartment Building on Dagály Promenade It is difficult to ignore the proximity of the Danube on seeing the apartment building located in the area bound by Dagály Promenade, Esztergomi Road, Bodor Street and Jakab Street. For me, the visual element reminiscent of a red ribbon running round the building mimics the undulating water, while the yellow elements jumping in and out recall the pebbles of the Danube. The house itself was built on a black base, seemingly standing on the riverbed. I am intrigued to find out what others associate with this playful façade. To my surprise, I come across the DLA dissertation of the building’s lead architect, Lajos Hartvig, which examines the characteristics of analogue, binary and digital architecture, citing the apartment building on Dagály Promenade as an example of the last of these. The dissertation reveals that the process of designing the façade can also be interpreted as an architectural experiment: following the notion of the mathematician and philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, “we think only in signs”, the designers sought to answer on the drawing board whether a building can communicate beyond itself and, if so, what tools are available to do this. Another question that arose was how the code system of architecture manifested itself at the time this building was designed in the mid2000s, and whether there was a specific code for architecture then. According to the author’s reasoning, early 21stcentury architecture also responds to the changes brought about by information technology and the digital revolution, whose outstanding element is the most important communication surface of buildings, the façade. Although I cannot abandon my own interpretation – the undulating Danube, the riverbed and the waterside stones – as I thought along these signs when I first saw the building, the knowledge of the design concept provides a fascinating insight into the thought process of how the appearance of a building evolves and what the issues occupying the architect at the drawing board were.

The New National Gallery The New National Gallery, as part of the Liget Budapest Project, is to be located in the city’s main public park (Városliget). Design of the building was conceived by Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA. The executive architect in charge is Bánáti + Hartvig Architects. The concept conceived by SANAA is to create a bond between nature and the built environment provided the basis of the architectural concept. The design envisaged the museum as an extension of the park, creating a dialogue between the museum building and the surrounding green space. This effect, and thus the visitor experience, is provided by the structure of the building. Transparency is evident in its appearance, thereby inviting people walking in the park to come in and releasing them back to the park on departure. This interaction is increased as the building can be approached and entered at ground level on all sides. The transition between outdoors and indoors is created by external and internal inclined walkways along a glass façade, which lead as continuations of the park’s paths to the upper levels of the building. The exhibition area will house Hungarian artworks from the 19th century to the present day in boxlike units for conservation considerations. These areas are surrounded by airy, translucent spaces where event, lecture and museum education halls, workshops and other service units are situated. These spaces create a link with the outside due to their transparency. In this way the design concept allows visitors to be in touch with art and nature alternately as they walk through the museum. The characteristic feature of the building is the double curved roof structure. The shape of the roofs and the inclined walkways running round the building reflect on and playfully follow one another. This structural arrangement creates spaces between the base planes and the masses letting natural light penetrate the interior of the building. The height of the roof structure is at the same level as the treetops, again linking the building to its environment.

IMPRESSZUM

A BÁNÁTI+HARTVIG ÉPÍTÉSZ IRODA 25 ÉVE

kiadó | Bánáti + Hartvig Építész Iroda Kft. 1117 Budapest, Fehérvári út 38. www.bh.hu | bh@bh.hu szerkesztő | Molnár Zsuzsanna szövegek | Bán Dávid, Bánáti Béla, Hartvig Lajos DLA, Kovács Péter, Martinkó József, Masznyik Csaba, Matus István, Molnár Zsuzsanna, Okrutay Miklós, Perényi Tamás DLA, Pesti Monica, Ritoók Pál, Torma Tamás

olvasószerkesztő | Ignácz Ádám fordítás | Juhász Fordítóiroda

könyvterv, nyomdai előkészítés | Klebercz Kriszta, Grafikriszta Bt. nyomda | Keskeny és Társai 2001 Kft.

példányszám | 500 darab

© Bánáti + Hartvig Építész Iroda Kft. 2021

ISBN 978-615-01-3125-2

9 786150 131252

köszönet | Fürst István, Serena Di Giuliano, Götz Eszter, Hágen Kata, Kátai Éva, Király András, Kiss Noémi, Kopasz László, Korintus Gábor, Lénárt Szabolcs, Lőcsei Vera, Matus István, Martinkó József, Nagypál Viktor, Náray Katalin, Nyirati Zoló, Sánta Bendegúz, Serebán Krisztián, Szabad Gabriella, Székely Ágnes, Szilágyi Norbert, Szloboda Gergő, Vass Zoltán, Vilhelm Gábor, Yumiko Yamada, Zajacz Judit, Alaprajz Magazin, BTM Kiscelli Múzeum, Újkori Várostörténeti Főosztály, Magyar Építőművészet, Mediaworks Hungary Zrt., Octogon Architecture&Design Magazin, SANAA (Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa / SANAA) és a Bánáti + Hartvig Építész Iroda minden jelenlegi és egykori munkatársa