Along with Moszkva square, Móricz Zsigmond circus is a very busy public transportation junction, located in south Buda. With a round art relic in its middle – the Gomba (meaning mushroom because of its form) is a popular public space for people to meet, with several trams and buses intersecting, along with the Budapest Metro – subway line 4, presently under construction. The concept by Hetedik Műterem Ltd. was to treat the art relic of József Schall (from 1942) with proper respect but determined courage. At the same time, they redefined the currently closed space structure, to put forward and intensify the presence of the urban public space. More images and architects’ description after the break.
The function-lost building structure can hardly satisfy the usage of the 21st century urban square, while there is undeniably a building-ouvre which – with renewal and redefinition – can change not only the square but the surroundings into a real event-space. Our concept – keeping and reinforcing the Gomba building’s conception – aimed to create an open, see-through, variable building, or more accurately: a public event-space.
Keeping the current triad, we imagined moveable and variable pavilions under the art relic’s roof and in-between the column hall, thus it shall delicately integrate with the surrounding public surfaces. All of this – beyond the functional advantages detailed in the plan – can trigger the Gomba building to become an emblematic key-character of the whole cultural city center.
Architects: Hetedik Műterem Ltd. Location: Budapest 11. district, Hungary Project Team: Orsolya Almer, András Páll, Orsolya Simon, Levente Szabó, Tibor Tánczos Landscape Design: Csenge Csontos, Borbála Gyüre (Geum Műterem) Competition Results: shared 1st prize Project year: 2009 Project area: 310 sqm
