Eleven submissions for the tender to redesign Kossuth Square in front of Parliament were presented at the House of Architects on Monday.
Designers were to keep in mind the function of the square from the viewpoint of transportation, landscape, its status as a historical landmark and, most importantly, security. Fortunately, none of the submissions complied with the condition in the invitation that the square's design must allow it to be closed - it must be surrounded by a fence - in the evening. They complied with conditions requiring an underground garage and a visitor centre, but not the fence. In its place, several submissions included an idea for putting grass in the place of the tram track which goes around the square. Other submissions envisioned building a pedestrian walkway, a Zen garden and a concrete wall for graphic art.
The prize-winning design in a contest to give Kossuth Square, in front of Parliament, a new look.
The winner of the competition presents a tolerant solution, preserving the surroundings with an unexaggerated plan absent of trendy elements. It balances the gold - the façade of the parliament building - with the elements - pools of water, green spaces and bodies of glass. Just like a good architect. The plan also builds on the triangle of buildings at the square - the parliament building, the Agriculture Ministry (soon to become the Prime Minister's Office) and the Museum of Ethnography. It offers no trees trimmed to shape or pretentious "street furniture", rather it offers a spiritual freshness which traces the identity not only of the square and its visitors, but of the country.
The first-prize winners in the tender are Péter István Balogh, Borbála Gyüre, János Homann, Zalán Kuti, Sándor Mohácsi, Máté Pécsi, Klára Katalin Pintér, Mónika Radics, Antal Gergely, Gyula Barkács, Alajos Sadecky, Gábor Csábi and JánosVolkay of S73 Kft.
