As summer begins, it’s time for pedestrians of Budapest to take over Pest’s quay again! This year, we’re celebrating too: Placemaking Days - organized by KÉK, connecting to the international New European Bauhaus Festival - will take place for the very first time in the city! Our goal with the event is to raise awareness on how it’s absolutely possible to make more liveable urban places with the power of community alliance and creativity, on a low budget - not just by mega-investments.

Throughout the festival’s two days, you can learn about the sustainable and inclusive usage of urban spaces, circular economy, the re-thinking of Danube’s bank, as well as developing collaborative neighbourhoods and districts. On Saturday, we’re holding a real placemaking event, located on the closed quay, and the viaduct under tramline 2, unused for years.

10 June, Friday: workshops in KÉK and BME (Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre and Budapest University of Technology and Economics)

• 9:00-18:00 // Workshop for students of higher education in the creative industry, at the Department of Graphics, Form and Design of Budapest University of Technology and Economics
• 14:00-18:00 // Placemaking practices in Europe - international workshop (EN)

Sign up by filling the form linked below: https://forms.gle/LHPLy2GjDeFfrjoR9 or learn more by contacting info@kek.org.hu

11 June, Saturday: Placemaking event on the quay!

• 9:00-14:00 // DIY creative placemaking workshop with Valyo

NEB workshops 14:00-17:00

• 14:00-15:30 // Circular economy discussion and workshop (HU)
• 15:30-17:00 // MOME (Moholy-Nagy University of Design and Art) workshop: what is a NEB values-defined urban district like? How to (re)discover Danube’s bank? (EN)

Placemaking night 18:30-21:30

• 18:30-20:00 // Placemaking in Europe discussion - From public spaces to communities (EN)
• 20:20 - Pecha Kucha Night Budapest: Placemaking with the tools of sustainable design (EN/HU)
• 21:30-23:00 Placemaking with music

// Programmes are free, you only have to sign up once - click the link below! Sign up

// The program’s cooperation partners and organizers:

• Budapest University of Technology and Economics - Department of Graphics, Form and Design
• Budapest Design Week
• Eutropian
• Express Innovation Agency
• Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK)
• Hungarian Design Council
• Budapest Metropolitan University
• Moholy-Nagy University of Design and Art
• Placemaking Europe
• re:Kreators
• Valyo - City and River

// What is “placemaking”?

Placemaking is philosophy and practice at the same time. It’s a process based on cooperation, aimed to create public spaces that people love, and that local communities can connect with. Though in Hungary, it’s still a less commonly used urban planning practice, more and more civil organizations and municipalities held such projects in the past years, recognizing the potentials of the method. An example for that is RAKPART, held last year and this year as well by Valyo. The program is connected to autumn’s Budapest Design Week as well! Placemaking Days Budapest is the Hungarian associate event of the New European Bauhaus. The aim of the NEB movement is to design a sustainable, inclusive and beautiful future, focused on creating a liveable environment. Placemaking projects are aligned with NEB’s three most important keywords: inclusivity, sustainability, and aesthetics - these are also the goals we’ll have in mind during this weekend, with all the professionals and locals.

// What is the New European Bauhaus?

In what kind of Europe would you like to live in? What does a sustainable, aesthetically enriching, open-for-everyone city mean? The aim of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) is together creating a European way of life - based on liveability, inclusivity, quality experiences and aesthetic principles, a wide affordability, sustainability, and circular economy. It’s focused on creating a liveable environment. The initiative’s fundamental goal is to translate the European New Deal for society - building bridges between art, culture, science and technology, while also connecting different generations and developing overall societal mobility.