20th International Architects’ Congress

Text: Orsolya Ware-Nagy
Photos: Anna Fábry

The twentieth Congress of Architects was all about jubilees: the speakers all had a milestone anniversary, and the event also marked the end of the series of events celebrating the 120th anniversary of the Hungarian Architects’ Association )MÉSZ). The event, organised jointly by Artifex Publishers and MÉSZ, was a two-day event. The first speaker, Ákos Moravánszky (ETH Zurich), was given the complex task of reviewing the past 120 years of Hungarian architecture, highlighting the periods in which Hungarian architecture was at the forefront of European standards. The second speaker was Níall McLaughlin, whose projects have a strong emphasis on thinking in a wider context, whether it be the Gothic built environment or the architectural and intellectual heritage of the university campus of Cambridge. Bernard Tschumi registered for the conference via the Zoom platform. The second day opened with a presentation by Canadian-born, London-based Alison Brooks, followed by Yui and Takaharu Tezuka. Their presentations, which were full of humour and self-awareness, quickly revealed the many differences between Japanese and European thinking and design methodologies. Botond Bognár, an architect of Hungarian origin, looked at the renewal and transformation of Japanese architecture at the end of the 20th century, followed by Kengo Kuma from Japan. These lectures were followed by a round table discussion between Kengo Kuma and Botond Bognár and his son, architect Balázs Bognár. Afterwards, Alfréd Peschka and Bertalan Nemes presented the venue, the gymnasium of the Cistercian grammar school named Szent Imre Gimnázium in Buda.