Budapest Student City – Big Market Hall and surroundings (HU)

Cleaning of a found object

The Big Market Hall and its office building stand alone as stripped-down, looted frames at the Soroksári Danube Branch waterfront. They are two remarkable examples of the 20th century Budapest’s industrial heritage, yet a very few of their original, valuable details remained.


Fourth dimension

The life of an industrial building is a constant adaptation and change, dimension of time is a determining factor. The concept of the Big Market Hall sees change as a program, defining the building as a space with an open-ended, constantly changing function. A distinction must be made between variable elements that provide stability and variable elements that allow flexible use. The Hall doesn’t become overdefined: it changes with its surroundings,

Particular rythym

The three buildings have a special relationship with each other: two of them were built at the same time, but with a markedly different style, and the duo is complemented by a contemporary student house. They belong together and have unique characters at the same time.

Spatial interpretation of the gradient

We interpret the rhythm of personal and communal living spaces primarily through their position on an open-personal and a formal-informal axis. Transitions help to ensure that functions are in a logical order, forming a unified structure, in all three buildings. It is good to work, live and spend time where the quality of spaces is diverse in the public - private and the formal - informal scale: as a gradient space arrangement.

Opening up

Like traditional arcades of marketplaces, the Hall provides a safe, covered but open space, like an umbrella. The formerly closed building, accessible to a few, becomes an open place to the whole community - the Cultivator, as an event space for the whole city, opens its doors wide. This also determines the space arrangement of the Hall: with its undivided, freely redefinable spaces, it evokes the original, flexible space management of a large market hall. The borders are blurred: the green corridor flows unimpeded into the building as an aeroponic system, and public space flows in as a community space.

3 × 8 = 24

The office building becomes Innovator, the hall becomes Cultivator with cultural, sport and urban agriculture function, and the student hostel becomes Recreator. They represent the balance of 8 hours of work, fun and rest, and their juxtaposition displays the work-life balance issue in 3D. These spaces of everyday life are less defined today, we do not necessarily work in an office, relax in our flat and have fun in a club, the transitions become more and more decisive.

Open ended design

A flexible, open formulation of the function for the trio as a whole, and specially the Market Hall is essential. A mixed-use, cultural, sports and event space must be adaptable, and must play a central role in a constantly changing situation, during the realization of the Student City project. Long time elapses between the present initial state and the future uncertain state, bringing about a series of adaptation situations and continuous change. These buildings can only be alive if they change with their environment.

Timeline

The time dimension is decisive in the placement of the three buildings and in interpreting their role. The office building shows the past with the function retained, with preserved and restored details. The Hall will be given a new role, with the reinterpretation of its built heritage it will give an answer to one of the most current questions of Budapest's urban planning. Instead of demolition, the building comes to life with its new function. The student hostel represents the future: contemporary architecture for the next generation, with the technology of the future, providing architectural inspiration for the future neighborhood.

Symbiosis

The functions and activities of the three buildings partly overlap. The office building basically functions as a workplace, connecting to the Hall through activities that complement work, including daily lunch breaks or conferences. The student hostel connects to the Hall through its sports facilities.

Vertical urban garden

The former marketplace that supplied Budapest with food will play a cultural and community role. Continuity is represented by the vertical garden along the interior façade, producing high quality food for its users and the residents of the area. With this, the building again contributes to the supply of vegetables and fruits to the city.

Preservation and revival

Preservation and transmission of values are key issues in both physical and mental dimensions. After decades of usage and decay, we have very few preservable original details. One-to-one restoration and reproduction is not only a concern, but not always a viable way. It is particularly important that, in addition to restoring outstanding values – e.g. if the first Hungarian paternoster lift – it is worth paying special attention to the spirit and past of the place, and to the inclusion of elements representing continuity.

Context

The Big Market Hall and its office building have a special architectural value. They are innovative and unique creations of their time, and are both forerunners of the architecture of the next period. According to the Master Plan of the Student City, the buildings will be freed from today's isolated situation, and will revive in a pedestrian only, truly human-scale and downtown position. The site will be the main square of the new quarter, and with its central position and elongated structure it will fit into the new urban fabric. This district brings something new in several ways: a car-free, innovative area powered by sustainable technologies that provides a model and inspiration for other areas of the city. The three buildings will be implemented first and will play an exemplary role both in terms of scale, design, material use and quality.

Catalog

The design of the Hall is an open-ended process. In the sense of use, the building is a catalog: its functions and services can be interpreted in a wide range of possibilities, where users and operators can compile and select the elements they need. The catalog is a set of constant and variable elements.
Permanent elements are there for making room for all functions now and in 30 years' time, without over-determining their use: shell, spatial infrastructure system, horizontal façade, permanent functions.
Variable elements are a set of tools that are open-ended, transformative, and able to serve changing needs in time and space: pavilions, vertical farm, aeroponic system, furniture.

Sustainability

It is a global problem that we bring more and more food to our table from far, often from other continents. The most effective solution is to put production to where consumers live. This is exactly what the aeroponic system in all three buildings solves, which is ecologically and economically sustainable. This innovative, not yet widespread technology brings significant benefits, especially in the livability of the hall, with locally grown vegetables. The office building has its own greenhouse, thanks to the innovative research and development laboratory work here, the operation of the green walls of the Hall is also integrated as ecological elements. The open areas of the student hostel’s roof garden act as a community garden.

Student Hostel: Recreator

The shape of the building is determined by the master plan and the orientation of the solar roof, but its details evoke the motifs of the Hall: it is independent and similar at the same time. The building has a unique shell that undulates similar to the Hall’s roof rhythm. This second façade is a white metal mesh that provides shade, intimacy for the terraces and a surface for the green façade. The arched elements can be opened by the residents, so the house always looks different from outside, the façade comes to life. The building unleashes its closedness: communal spaces flow out to the facade. With this, the student hostel shows its inner world and provides opportunity to connect.

A student hostel is a special blend of residential and community functions: our concept is based on the variability of private and community, formal and informal spaces. There are no corridors in the building – there are narrowing and expanding communal spaces, defined and undefined nooks instead. Bedrooms, study rooms, lecture halls, lounges, kitchens, common terraces can be placed in a gradient coordinate system. The large, multi-level central space is connected to more divided areas, which provide opportunities for smaller community events and spontaneous meetings. The rooms are lined up in strict order around the central space as a counterpoint to the flowing public spaces. The other endpoint of private – community axis is the ground-floor café and reception, and the multifunctional sports court in the basement. These are separated from the street by only a glass layer: public space flows into the building almost unhindered.

Hall: Cultivator

The Hall was once one of the most important, vital commercial buildings, however a secret place due to its wholesale nature. Our concept, vertical gardening creates the connection between the old and the new function: what used to play a main role in the city's food supply now contributes to the community with locally grown vegetables. Culture is a new function: the origin of the word “colere”, cultivation, which can be interpreted in plant production as well as in the cultivation of the mind and body. The Hall is a permanent frame, an inspiring, receptive space: an artificial vacuum that attracts users. Its principle is to provide a minimum function and maximum infrastructure. Emptiness amplifies: it gives space and encourages expression. It is a covered, urban space, open to everyone, not associated with consumption constraints. With the total opening of the ground floor, the space flows freely in all directions. It is constantly changing in time. At first it will take on a Budapest-focused role, when the city discovers it and starts using it. During the transition phase, residents will settle in, and the Hall will serve their daily needs with temporary services. When the Student City is finished, the Hall will function as a local city center. By this time, the program of the event center will be formed and the Cultivator will find its final role on the cultural map of Budapest.

Office: Innovator

The listed office building represents continuity: preservation and restoration of its values are particularly important. The principle of the interior design concept is to distinguish between old and new. Supporting structure is marked with white color, while new elements are made of wood: railings, partition walls, suspended ceilings. Functional flexibility, inspiring work environment, zoning of space for different activities and the possibility of working outdoors: these are essential ingredients.

The four-story part facing the Danube is a classic office building. The lower levels are coworking spaces: collaborative open-office zones and smaller recreation zones alternate with meeting rooms and workshops. The top levels are private offices to rent with flexible areas. The back of the building is now a torso, we redefine it as a workshop space and add a contemporary element to it: a greenhouse that continues the waves of the Hall’s roof, but in less strict rhythm. The expansion is pulled away from the building: this gap clearly separates new from old and creates a huge, covered, open terrace for outdoor work, events and relaxation. The greenhouse has two functions: plant growing and community space. The plants grown here are prepared here, guests can even select particular ingredients for their salad. The new function lives in symbiosis with the green wall of the Hall and the innovative gastronomic and ecological services.



Architecture
Nanavízió
Nóra Pajer
Noémi Soltész
Dalma Faddi
Zsófia Hennel
Áron Szabó
+
Minusplus
Dr. Zsolt Alexa
Donát Rabb
Dr. Ákos Schreck
Ivett Tarr
Kitti Claudia Kódor
Richard Zoltán Szarvas

Consultant's, specialists
Piroska Varga (Grafit Műterem) – historic preservation
Tamás Hrustinszky – building engineering
György Decsi –fire safety
Gergely Vörös – rendering
Richárd Lakosi – graphic design
Krisztián Lakosi – graphic design