Radnóti Miklós Cultural Community Centre, Budapest

Architect: György Vadász
Text: Mária Tatai
Photos: Ágnes Szél

Instead of walls the elevations of RAM Cultural Centre appear more like papercuts: a series of bands of paper into which a design of openings was cut. The lack of traditional sections and the unusual proportions resulted in an abstract kind of spatial plastic art work. The playful mood of its designers is reflected in both the forms of the building and the UFO-like edifices standing in the front garden in Kárpát Street: the domed skylight-funnels serve an underground parking lot. It is an unusual experience of space for us to reach the four entrances among the white broken-line or arched wall planes wedged between the wings. Every entrance is an access into the same foyer with a ringroad design. From this central distributing space (also functioning to house exhibitions) everything is within easy and quick reach. The circular glass wall makes the whole system transparent in one glance. In one of the three rectangular wings there is a club for the elderly and the library, the second houses offices and recreational rooms, whilst the third one functions as a cloakroom and a café. The fourth wing is an elliptical cylinder housing the theatre, the spacious hall for events convertible from the auditorium as well as smaller club rooms.

Archirtecture: Vadász és Társai Építőművész Kft.
Leading architect: György Vadász
Architects: Balázs Vadász, Artúr Palotás, Zoltán Labádi, Miklós Kovács
Interior design: Gábor Schinagl
Structure: ifj. György Vadász, Ágnes Dávid – Vadász és Társai Építőművész Kft.
Technical installations: Béla Zöld – Thermo-lux Kft.
Electrical engineering: Lajos Balogh – Thermo-lux Kft.
Landscape: Ágnes Holtság – Ház és Tér Kft.
Framework: Gábor Schreiber – S-4 Mérnökiroda Kft.
Environment, acoustics: Róbert Csott
Indoor acoustics: András Kotschy
Stage technology: Zsuzsa Tompai
Client: Budapest Főváros XIII. kerületi Önkormányzata, Hiszékeny Dezső alpolgármester
Main contractor: Magyar Építő Zrt.