Reconstruction of Széll Kálmán Square, Contest

1st Prize: Építész Studio and Lépték Terv Landscape Studio

Text: Béla Nagy

Széll Kálmán Square that can be described by this astronomical concept as a kind of earthly „black hole” has swallowed every single effort and attempt to urbanistic, environmental revitalization or development projects to develop it in the past few decades with no trace left. Bearing the name of Moscow throughout five decades (1951–2011), this square is a unique place of the Buda side of the city: the miracle may be broken now and the square could once again be in for a renewal. Being a reception point of the Northern Buda part of the Budapest agglomeration, this site is crossed by numerous commuters of an extensive region on more than one occasions day by day, even if they are mostly transit passengers. Its overcrowdedness, the pushing of the passers-by into an ever narrowing bottleneck, the overall design of the square lacking integrity, the lack of visual and functional markings of its great boulevard position, the numerous inorganic and random details all come to emphasize that the revitalization of the area concerned is a burning issue. The primary aim of publishing the design contest was also to construct an urban square of appropriate standards on the site neglected for decades to meet its outstanding function within the fabric of the city.

1st Prize: Építész Studio and Lépték Terv Landscape Studio (leading architects: Tamás Fialovszky, Richárd Hőnich, Ferenc Keller, Zsolt Félix, Benedek Sólyom, Iván Nagy, landscape: Barnabás Szakács, Sándor Liziczai (Lépték-Terv Studio); collaborators: Gergő Jedlicska, Gergely Kenéz)

2nd Prize: Sagra Architects (leading architects: Gábor Sajtos; architects: Miklós Oroszlány, András Páll, Péter Virág)

3rd Prize: Mihály Balázs Studio, Építészkohó Kft. and DMB Kft. (leading architects: Mihály Balázs, Tamás Attila Tarnóczky; architects: Balázs Falvai, Dávid Török, Zita Pelle)