Living materials, alternative systems

Text: Balázs Válóczy People who find me as an architect usually already feel the serious problems of the climate changing and the degradation of the environment, as well as the responsibility of architecture in these processes, and start looking for a way out. Among them are those who are willing to do it and pay […]

The Early Bird Catches the Worm

Evolution of water collection structures Text: Bálint Botzheim The city of Feodosia on the southeastern coast of the Crimean peninsula was once founded by the Greeks of Miletus as a colonial city. There is little precipitation in the area, but due to the proximity of the sea, the air is often humid. According to legend, […]

Environmentally Positive Architecture

Lungs of the City – Solar Decathlon Europe 2022 Text: PTE MIK – Tamás Kondor Dr, Hajnalka Juhász, Csilla Kondor-Hegedüs Photos: BUW SDE 21/22 In 2002, the Department of Energy of the United States launched Solar Decathlon, the world’s largest international building innovation competition. The competition for a sustainable, healthy built environment takes place every […]

The Future of Hybrid Buildings

Water-filled Glass Text: Mátyás Gutai Photos: WATER-FILLED GLASS LIMITED Water-filled Glass is a new glass technology that can be used as window glass or as a complete curtain wall; for roofs, it can be installed as skylights, glass skylights or even as complete glass roofs. The technological innovation is a layer of water flowing in […]

21st Century Hermitage – Dobogókő

Diploma Thesis Concept and text: Marcell Szuhanyik As we enter the 21st century, retreats are not just religiously motivated and led. Through a variety of systems of thought, as part of physical and spiritual exercises, and also as a contrast to our everyday life, time spent alone or in a group with the same purpose […]

Modern and Its Critique

Conceptual Architecture from the Second Half of the 20th Century to the Present Text: Anett Mizsei Modernism, as the defining architectural style of the 20th century, was in moral crisis by the 1960s. While technology, the need for mass construction, and the positive aspects of comfort and hygiene that Modernism represented were of course still […]

Elemental (Self-)Power

The Reality of Elemental Social Housing Architecture Text: Balázs Rose In the 2000s, Chile’s social architecture gradually evolved into the focus of global professional interest, thanks in particular to the spectacular architecture and effective communication of Alejandro Aravena (Elemental). Aravena and his fellow architects have identified architectural quality and the so-called incremental housing methodology as […]

Sustainable Homes Workshop

Budapest University of Technology, Department of Residential Building Design Text: Réka Mándoki Sustainable development is “promoting prosperity while protecting the planet”. In terms of sustainability in residential buildings, this translates into providing affordable and decent homes for all people, while making our buildings as environmentally friendly as possible, by using as few materials as possible […]

Sustainability of Prefab Housing in Europe

Text: Réka Mándoki Over the past few years, environmental concerns, efficiency challenges in the sector and a shortage of skilled labour have led to a strong shift towards prefabrication all over Europe. These trends are also affecting the market of housing, as residential buildings are particularly suited to prefabrication due to their predictable loads and […]

What if?

Reflections on Co-Housing Text: Julianna Szabó PhD This paper proposes the creation of a co-housing building in Budapest, along the lines of the Berlin „Am Ostseeplatz” housing cooperative founded in 2000, which would provide affordable housing, cultural diversity and a liveable neighbourhood in the long run. The first self-build project in Berlin was inaugurated in […]

Cohousing – Utopia or reality?

The situation of communal housing in Hungary Authors: Annamária Babos, Petra Madaras-Horogh Cohousing is a form of housing where tenants develop their housing conditions and living environment through community cooperation, based on common goals and interests. Residents voluntarily and consciously enter into a community with each other, sharing spaces, facilities, tasks and activities to the […]

SHARE Hungary 2023

International Architecture & Technology Forum Text: Mária Tatai SHARE Network has been a platform for architects and contractors in Central and South-Eastern Europe for 25 years, with events organized in 16 countries. The 7th Hungarian conference took place on 6th June at the Budapest Music Center focussed on the theme “Facades of the future: sustainable […]