{"id":51029,"date":"2025-07-18T21:11:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T19:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meonline.hu\/?p=51029"},"modified":"2025-07-18T21:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T19:11:01","slug":"a-lelek-szigete","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meonline.hu\/en\/aktualis\/tema\/a-lelek-szigete\/","title":{"rendered":"Island of the Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sisters of the Cross Centre, Budapest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Architects: Katalin Csillag, Zsolt Gunther<\/strong>
\nText: Eszter G\u00f6tz<\/strong>
\nPhotos: Tam\u00e1s Bujnovszky<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Buda’s V\u00e1rosmajor Street, this extraordinary building has stood on this site since 1847, its neo-Gothic style shining out from the streetscape of today. It was used as a residential building until 1994, when it became the property of the Franciscan order of the Sisters of the Cross. The plans for both the conversion and extension were drawn up by architects Katalin Csillag and Zsolt Gunther, who followed the logic of the original U-shaped extension and designed two new wings, which were given a sculptural, contemporary appearance. The building has been stripped of its former yellow render and given a subtle pale grey fa\u00e7ade, with the lining of the arches and the plasticity of the deeper surfaces accentuated with white paint. On entering, the entirety of the whole composition is revealed: the old wings, plastered in a greenish shade of grey, encircling the courtyard on two sides, and the two snow-white blocks continuing the stems of the U-shape. The contours of the new wings are blurred, the old and new wall and roof surfaces are continuations of each other, but the sculptural quality of the sloping fa\u00e7ade, broken in several planes on the north side, and the sculptural quality of the wall, which is made of the same material as the roof, continuing the roof shape without cornice on the southern side, create a quiet, meditative atmosphere. In both parts of the building, the fa\u00e7ades are broken by simple, French-arched openings with glass parapets: the one-storey wing to the south has 6 rooms for the sisters, while the three-storey wing to the north contains offices and guest rooms. Between the two, a rose-framed staircase leads up to the garden on the higher ground.<\/p>\n

Leading architects: Katalin Csillag, Zsolt Gunther<\/strong>
\nProject architect: Tam\u00e1s B\u00e9kesi<\/strong>
\nFellow architects: Veronika Nov\u00e1k, Andr\u00e1s M\u00e1rk Bartha, J\u00falia Boromissza, Tam\u00e1s Butora, Tam\u00e1s Cs\u00e9pke, Dorottya Garay-Kiss, J\u00e1nos Gyuricza, Anna S\u00e1ra Kiss, Marianne Mokos, Zsolt P\u00e9teri, S\u00e1ndor Sebesty\u00e9n, Annam\u00e1ria T\u00f3th <\/strong>
\nStructure: Dezs\u0151 Hegyi Dr \u2013 Hegy-\u00c9k Ltd.<\/strong>
\nHVAC: Tam\u00e1s Oltvai \u2013 Art-Tax<\/strong>
\nElectrical engineering: Ferenc Kelemen \u2013 Kelevill-FZ<\/strong>
\nLandscape: Enik\u0151 Kap\u00e1s \u2013 Departer Engineers<\/strong>
\nFire protection: B\u00e9la Nagy \u2013 Flamma Contra<\/strong>
\nBuilding construction: Gergely Sipos \u2013 ARKKITEHTI<\/strong>
\nHistorical monument expert: M\u00e1rta Branczik \u2013 Modern \u00c9p\u00edt\u00e9szet\u00e9rt Ltd.<\/strong>
\nClient: Sisters of Charity of the Holy Cross, Province of Central Europe<\/strong><\/p>\n

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