On the last weekend of April 2024, we led a group organised by the Austrian Architektur Zentrum Wien on a three-day guided city tour. Following the request, a detailed programme was prepared already in November last year, including visits to nearly 50 buildings in three busy days. Art historian Maria Welzig of AzW provided the needs and basic ideas for the walks, while architect János Klaniczay of the KÉK Urban Walks team, curator of KÉK, organised the itineraries for the three days and took on the task of guiding the three-day walk.
On the first day, the focus was on Inner-Erzsébetváros, Budapest's subways and the modern architecture of Újbuda.
On the second day we explored the built heritage of Margaret Island, the fantastic buildings of Víziváros and the history of Millenáris.
Day three included Vizafogó Park, Nyugati Railway Station, Városliget, the Jewish cemetery on Salgótarjáni út and even the Art Nouveau architecture of Herminamező.
The group was given a tour of several sites by the architects themselves, who provided first-hand, authentic information. The history of the renovation of the Rumbach Street synagogue was presented by Tamás Kőnig. Bodó Bánáti gave us an insight into the renovation of the new office building of Bánáti+Hartvig. Bence Dobos from Archikon presented the renovation of the Palatinus Baths, while Bianka Varga spoke to the group about the creation of Vizafogó Park. Gergely Fernezelyi and Imre Szűcs, from FBIS architects, presented the design of the Kapás Street condominium in Víziváros. The history of Millenáris Park was presented by Dominika Tihanyi, founder of the Újirány group, and we even got a glimpse into the enormous space of the Ganz Hall. We also managed to get into the fantastic staircase of the Piston House, thanks to a quite wonderful initiative by the condominium to let us in at any time in exchange for a 10 000 HUF contribution for the condominium. A guided tour of the House of Music gave the group an insight into Fujimoto's building in Budapest. And we also visited the KÉK project gallery on Bartók Béla út, where a short presentation was given on the work of KÉK and the current developments taking place in Budapest.
It is long even to describe.
The three-day programme was undoubtedly intense, but it also included fantastic dishes at Mazel Tov, KEG Beerhouse, Mandragóra and Szaletly restaurants. This provided a taste of the exciting gastronomic scene of the capital.
We are grateful for this challenging invitation, it was very exciting for us too. And a special thanks to the many contributors who made the walks more colourful by showing us their buildings and plans.
Naturally, it is impossible to explore this city in such a short time. But it's not a bad start.