A Detached House in Budafok

Architect: Szabolcs Szentmáry
Text: Bálint Botzheim
Photos: Tamás Szentirmai, Szabolcs Szentmáry

Having a dialogue with the past is a difficult task in a context like the garden suburb of Budafok where intense traditions of viticulture are not manifested architecturally in any form. However, the „genius loci” is sensibly present, and as the previous example illustrates, leave imprints by the hands of those who are receptive. Independently of style, form and material. The design scheme of detached (family) houses almost entirely occupy the volume at its disposal. Thus the solution turned out to be a cube of fine proportions overlooking the valley. The strict mass is shaped with the same gesture at two points – it sets into motion at the entrance and the terrace. When viewing the gable of the house, the ground floor appears like a wall with a single opening, just like an entrance to a cellar. Above it and towards the back, the terrace and a floating cantilever open its depth. Owing to its sculpturesque design, the street front of the house reveals itself like a carved out cube.