Anonym Winery, Etyek

Architects: István Szövényi, Anna Szövényi
Text: Ferenc Török
Photos: József Hajdú

Wine cellars are the most beautiful architectural relics of the ancient and still live traditions of Hungarian viticulture. In the vineyards of Tokaj, Villány and Csopak wineries for purely wine-tasting built along existing wine cellars are the brightest examples of Hungarian landscape architecture. Those located in the wine region of Etyek have well deserved to be ranked amongst them owing to their unique values as historic monuments. Designed by István Szövényi and Anna Szövényi, the twin-design wine cellar both preserves and recreates local traditions. The designers’ task was to unite two vineyards. There was need to have a new cellar next to the old one seated on one of the plots. The concept was essentially as follows: to complement the existing traditional wine cellar structure so that the extended house transforms into an integral architectural unit whilst the old one is open to visitors as a facility where the stages of wine-making are shown one by one along a non-stop route of the wine-tour to those interested. The scheme linked the ancient hill on which cellars were built and the newly erected cellar in a witty concept resembling a bridge. As a result, a highly functional well-operating system was created in harmony with the surrounding landscape. The system of buildings represents the successive stages of wine-making and viticulture with its various rich and permeable rows of spaces. The ground floors of the buildings house the service areas whilst upstairs there are catering units: the area of wine-tasting is open and has been configurated to have a full panoramic view of the region.

Architects: István Szövényi, Anna Szövényi
Statics: Zsolt Tóth
HVAC: Gábor Tóth
Electrical engineering: Sándor Oszlánczi
Interior design: Tímea Petheő