Hungary
Design philosophy
According to Zsuzsanna Bogner:
The main idea of the landscape design was to
create a great variety of interesting, inspired
and delectable urban spaces in spite of the
small area given and the dense urban fabric.
The task has been rendered more difficult by
the excavation of the ‘Hole’, the huge con-
crete structure and the detailed architectural
and urban planning regulations.
The aim was to bring the roof garden and the
underground structures into close harmony, and
this directed the designers towards a very strict
architectural approach to space forming and style.
The basis of the landscape design was laid down
in Firka’s competition entry, which used a fine con-
structivist form, but in the light of the competition
the whole architectural programme had to be care-
fully reconsidered.
Satisfying the needs of pedestrians, opening up
a new visual axis, and creating new connections
have had an influence upon the surrounding area.
The connection to the Cathedral (Bazilika) to the
north has been rethought, with a new promenade
starting in front of the former bus terminal build-
ing.^2 Though the restoration of the old public park
at Erzsébet Square was not included in the plan-
ning competition, the municipality of the 5th district
decided to handle the two parts of the Erzsébet
Square as one unit. Therefore the landscape archi-
tecture team drew up a design for the whole area,
with fine connections and a smooth transition from
the fresh, up-to-date urban space to the traditional
public park. It is not the designers’ fault that the
building project was (and still it is) restricted to the
new open space and the Hole. Redevelopment of
the old bus terminal as a cultural exhibition hall and
the refurbishment of the old Erzsébet park have
been delayed.
According to Zsuzsa Bogner:
From a technical point of view, the Erzsébet
Square is a typical roof garden, where the co-
ordinated system of open and inner spaces
complete each other in a strict structural order
defined by pure functional needs. It was a fan-
tastic challenge to exploit the possibilities of
the concrete structure and, at the same time,
to disguise the roof garden character; it should
not be visible to the visitors, nor should it be
sensed by the plants in the garden.
In spite of the complicated underground structure,
the open space with its calm grassy expanses and
water surfaces restores a sense of evenness and
reassurance to the disturbed, hectic city life.
