Europe, Hungary, Budapest, Kossuth Square

Architect: Zoltán Tima
Text: Gábor Turányi
Photos: Tamás Bujnovszky

Newly born Kossuth Square, including all its constituents, is actually a big step made by Budapest to virtually occupy the center of gravity of the Budapest–Rome–Barcelona geographical triangle. Not only regarding tourism, but also in the spiritual sense. Budapest–Stockholm 1,300 km, Budapest–Rome 1,800 km, Budapest–Barcelona 1,500km – just to look at the cities which are the most important for me. Grey is a prevailing colour of these three European cities. The shades of their stones offer one of the spiritual-material links between Europe and Kossuth Square. In this case grey represents objectivity, impartiality, firmness, fairness and modesty. Its miriads of shades were reliable compasses for Zoltán Tima to connect past, present and future when selecting greys as the prevailing colours with firmness and determination. The reshaping of Kossuth Square is simultaneously a higher standard architectural spatial formation: the venue for generosity. It is also the realization of the situation that the task involved here is not only the creation of new spaces but also permitting the existing faculties to evolve. Besides grand-scale spaces the treatment of temporary spaces is also a remarkable achievement. The breath-size atrium within the Visitors’ Centre is a real hit and bravado. Opening it towards the River Danube is a welcome surprise.

Architecture, interior: Tima Stúdió – KÖZTI Zrt.
Leading architect: Zoltán Tima – KÖZTI Zrt.
Landscape: Sándor Mohácsi – s73
Architect: Tamás Németh
Fellow architects: Tibor Molnár, Kaplony Tölgyesi, Dóra Papp, Máté Szabó, Orsolya Ráti
Lighting: LISYS Zrt.
Client: Országgyűlés Hivatala – Imre Steindl Program
Main contractor: KÉSZ Építő Zrt.