2010/3

Architecture has a peculiar continuous presence, a sensuous material quality which is irreplaceable.
It needs space, and time is also important.
The physical and mental environment matters.
However, architecture is not made by architects, against every kind of belief.

This imposing and representative volume is the twelfth title in the large-scale enterprise and mission of the publishing company written by János Gerle, the editor of the whole series. This time the task set was to assess the significance and give a reasonable evaluation of the oeuvres of two architects more difficult and questionable to approach if compared to the other volumes of the series published so far.

Our periodical, the old/new Hungarian Architecture has paid attention to trends in Hungarian and international architecture and changes in reflections on architecture since 1903 by fits and starts.
Now, at the dawn of the third millennium the architecture of the world finds itself in a new situation. Simultaneously with this, Hungarian architecture is also about to change directions and even a paradigm.

A city is much more than the entirety of individuals’ habitats: it is an independent organization, living either in parts or as a whole, growing, developing, evolving, devolving, ceasing to exist or being reborn. It is to serve the community, the entire local society, its tasks being the realization of public interest and the service of general welfare.

I obsessedly believe that a meaningful and safe future for Budapest is only guaranteed if it can evolve into the cultural (and as a result actually a touristic) centre of Central Europe. Its position is excellent for this perspective, being the meeting point of northern-southern, eastern-western corridors of traffic and transport…

The designing process is a kind of communication in itself. It is an imaginative internal exchange of ideas of the creator, a dialogue of ideas and form concept formulating and discarded, developed and enhanced. There is communication between the mind and the hand drawing designs. The exterior of communication starts with the definition of the task, together with the client, and takes place in a variety of social terrains.

Acting as the patron of museums, the Spanish royal family and the Ministry of Culture as maintainer decided to extend Prado. In 1995 a total of 700 designs concerning the concept were submitted for the open international tender inviting designs for the concept. The winner, Rafael Moneo was commissioned to design in 1998.

Tadao Ando, a most significant and original Japanese architect at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries is one of the earliest representatives of a unique architectural approach and reflection continuing the traditions of Japanese architecture in its modern reinterpretation, in a synthesis with the western tradition.

There is a new office block towering on Könyves Kálmán Boulevard, between the bus terminal in Népliget and the railway flyover of M5 motorway. The identity of this area is undergoing a radical change right now, with surviving old constituents and a series of new office blocks and retail houses appearing precariously so far. Népliget Center Office Block sits on its site as if it had been there for ages.

Regarding the city as a cultural web, the New Maribor Art Gallery can be considered as a neuron, in which the cultural nervous system of the city coagulates. Three characteristic elements define this place within the urban texture. On one hand the river bank of the Dráva and so the presence of water featuring the natural environment.

The first phase of the New Main Street of Budapest Project has been completed by finalizing the designs for the area between Kálvin Square and Szabadság Square, resulting in a northern-southern axis redefined both functionally and traffic-wise. By banning transit transport and thus decreasing traffic here, a liveable urban environment has been created with streets…

Looking into the future from today’s Paris, the exhibition titled Roma, Uneternal City presents new perspecives of the development of tomorrow’s European capitals. Managed by Aaron Betsky architect-critic, the manager of Cincinnatti Art Museum, twelve international groups contributed to a lively discussion on issues concerning not only Rome, such as the increase of its population and the expansion of its area…