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Siemens office building






Architect
Lázár Antal, Reimholz Péter, Gunter R. Standke
Company
A&D Stúdió
Designed in
1998
Built in
1998—1999
Address
1143 Budapest, Hungária körút 128.
Prizes
Budapest Award of Architectural Excellence, medal and award
certificate, 1999
Budapest's first urban development plan already contained large-scale urban planning and development ideas that were decades ahead of most major European cities. Such was the case with the development of the boulevard+avenue transport network, which included the Hungária körút (=boulevard) with its planned bridges over the Danube. In the two decades following the preparation of the plans, the development progressed dynamically, but then it came to a halt, and it took about a hundred years to complete the project. In the meantime, in addition to a number of medium- or low-quality houses, a few high-quality buildings have also been built, but they were so far apart in space and especially in time that they could not form a single architectural image. Now this trend seems to be breaking: Siemens City can generate the high-quality transformation of a whole building block, and perhaps even the entire route.
The siting is the result of a well-thought-out urban development plan, which includes both the imprint of the bygone eras and the respectful adjustment to the elements to be kept. The building is the first component of this elaborated development, and its quality is so high that it already has a strong vibe. The simplicity and practicality, and the unpretentious elegance of its design is striking. Not the simple middle-corridor floor plan, not the grayish-gray, auto-shaded metal façade, neither the high-tech metal-glass wall are stunning, although these elements are also good and beautiful in themselves. Rather, the relationship between the house and the public space in front of it is captivating: the space that Siemens and the design team returned to the city. The space that is bordered by car body elements, membranes and signs, but despite its rock-hard building materials, exudes calm and serenity. A relaxing place in the pulsating, rushing traffic corridor of the boulevard; and every season it is different: like a grape arbor in a hot summer.
Photo
Häider Andrea





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