Turtle Nature Trail, Dunakeszi

Architecture: Paradigma Ariadné
Text: Anett Mizsei
Photos: Szabolcs Molnár

The Turtle Nature Trail in Dunakeszi by Paradigma Ariadne is for the playful and serious. It uses architectural tools to form a bridge connecting people and landscape, both literally and symbolically. The marsh, which is one of the last in Budapest, welcomes visitors with its deep silence. The structure, with its planks, bridges and stopping points adapted to the features and characteristics of the site, the trees, the topography and the density of vegetation, is a fine thematic expression of the educational contents of the trail, but more importantly, it has the potentials to awaken emotions in people. The starting station at the back of the car park ouutside the local shopping centre is in fact the basic layout of the trail stops. This object, like a compass or a cryptic signpost, simply tells the visitors where to go. The first stop, the assembly point, was built outside the marsh. The mystical moment of entering the marsh is when we cross the 15-metre-long bridge. From this point onwards, no archetype or direct reference is formally apparent along the trail, yet the stair-like object created from the structural geometry creates a deep, mental meaning, a memory. It achieves its sacral effects without becoming pathetic or deliberately exploiting means of influence. Even in its simplicity, it is capable of making statements about itself and its relationship to and associations with its environment, whilst also leaving room for the free associations of the person discovering it.

Architects: Lilla Árkovics, Virág Kiss, Attila Róbert Csóka, Szabolcs Molnár, Dávid Smiló
Interpretation planning: Association of Cultural Heritage Managers
Graphics: Virág Kiss
Investor: Ceetrus Hungary Ltd.
Developer: Nhood Services Hungary Ltd.
Main contractor: Paradigma Ariadné