The Reconstruction of the Railway Station, Keszthely

Architect: Szilvia Flachner
Text: Miklós Okrutay
Photos: Szilvia Flachner

The building of the railway station in Keszthely is typical of the early 1960s representing everything that could have happened to a structure with such a past. From beneath the layers continuously settling on it, it hardly gets exposed that there used to be a previously wellconceived, well-functioning and loveable world, and there is a gesture of obvious rejection. The greatest merit of the reconstruction today is that the architect, Szilvia Flachner joyfully and enthusiastically discovers the most important message of the site and the house to herself, and even more so, that she is able to mediate it to us in a carefully thought and yet comprehensive way. Within this, the sense of the power of the composition is a priority. The single-storey main block is completed with a single-storey functioning section, as well as the pavilion-design of the water areas and retails necessary for the operations of the railway station, the view of all which is integrated by a platform roofing covering the whole complex. Solutions chosen during the reconstruction project serve the accentuation of all this, and as a result, the composition has turned out to be even more powerful than the original had been. To understand the message of the house, to recreate the original contents of the former architectural world whilst relying upon the power of the original concept, to get it back into operation and fill it with life for the contemporary world – these are the strengths of this highly successful project.

General architecture: MÁV Zrt. Műszaki Tervezési Főosztálya
Leading architect: Szilvia Flachner
Interiors: Ferenc Göde – KROKI Studio
Landscape: Renáta Tóth
Structure: Zoltán László
HVAC: László Hegyi
Electrical engineering: Ádám Turi
Public utilities: Adrienne Halász
Roads: Péter Balogh
Rehabilitation expert: Márta Székely