An organizing grid of the whole project for the urban dimension with free approach to the architectural dimension (scale) of the contest area; that’s the plan for Angylföld - Budapest.

2001 rappresents a bridge between two centuries, Budapest is itself a bridge town (East and West meet here) as it’s considered by the Europan organizers... After the political changes in 1990 in this part of Budapest a great opportunity has come into being: to plan side by side the strict order of socialist urbanism and the more individualistic irregularity of western experiences giving the project a valence of “bridge experiment”. Here there is the chance to think different, to plan a “irregular order” that meets both above-mentioned methods: a simple organizing and structural grid that assures a coherence with urban development of last decades in Hungarn, useful for easy phasing development of the area and a new approach for the architectural scale of the proposal creating particular different situations for private, semipublic and public spaces.

Under common and straights (formly rigid) roofs, different residential units follow one another at short and irregular intervals starting from Vaci Street to the bay. Roofs contain under their structures all the technical and technological systems and become a sort of spines of the residential blocks. This layout provides easy access and manteinance: it’s possible, besides, to add more systems in different time without relevant costs. Solar cells, rain-water tanks, energy batteries may be added along the building life helping to spread bioarchitectural thesis. Refluent water, after its first depuration in suitable basins, goes to the large phytodepuration pool close to the waterfront.

The project would offer, on the other side, the maximum of freedom for residential units location on the ground level and a clear separation between pedestrian and motor vehicle access to the area; these accesses work in different levels with the motor vehicle one running through a cutting for the whole residential area lenght, freeing open spaces for private gardens, green and public places. This unusual solution is adopted for limiting vehicoles access only to residents. Two underground parking lots are provided for them, while one more, this one public, is located at ground floor under a “green roof” directly connected to Vaci Street and without any connections with residential area.

Pedestrian and cycle track runs tangent to Vaci Street along this border in an upper level (second) on a planned bank. From here, glass corridors penetrate into the residential area taking place under the straight roofs. At the second level of the blocks cycle park terraces are provided between adjacent residential units for inhabitants. From here elevators and common stairs distribute to different appartments/floors. At ground floor more tracks cut residential area creating a network of semipublic and public spaces with many public facilities located in the basement of the blocks, surgery, library, clubs, etc.

By the mentioned bank it’s possible to reach Duna Plaza and nearby commercial square passing along ceased railway track without crossing any vehicular street. Project provides this old track to gently decline inside commercial area becoming a preferential urban foot-path under which is convenient to locate the planned parking garage close to the planned new Hotel (this in form of a Bridge upon the access Meder Street from South, a sort of gate to new residential area).

The border on Vaci Street, otherwise, is delimited by the pedestrian bank with its tall walls that follow the line of the higway but all with different lenght and angolation to magnify the dynamism of the traffic. Sometimes small and/or large hole open in the wall identifys a  simple access to the residential area or a shop or the parking place, maybe a bus-stop waiting room or some public facilities (toilets, telephone, ticket-offices for urban lines..). This structure becomes an important spine for the street front but results architecturally silent in its constructing semplicity and form.

To the north, at the end of the contest area, the wall opens on a ramp to the heightened projected plaza where more commercial and officies take place. The walls on Vaci Street form a physical and visual border of the new residential and commercial development and are mainly useful to moderate the heavy traffic-noise pollution of the road. The appartment located nearby the wall are conveniently reserved for temporary use, for students or workers...

Of course the residential blocks decline in height from Vaci Street to Duna River.

2001 Europan 6, Budapest - Hungarn

Typology.


The sub-division of the functions is due to the need of saving energy and moderate the climat conditions of different seasons. Spaces designed for common living (living room, kitchen) are conveniently south oriented while bedrooms north. Appartment plans are simple and not much articulated and consist of simplex and duplex type of different size for family of 3 to 6 persons (from 30 to 120 square meters).

The compact shape of the building blocks reduces thermical dispersion and offers a correct orientation in order to obtain passive energy gain.


Residential buildings are devided by different blocks which reduce excess of linearity and monotony and otherwise umanize and animate the building fronts. The design is based on semplicity of regular forms and general simple development of internal plans (blocks building dislocation, repetition of plans).

The single block’s volume is strongly anchored to the ground in order to express matericity. On the top of the single unity it’s possible to use the plane terrace for common utilization, covered and protected as it is by the straight common roof.

It would be possible to more animate the complex with colors; every block could be distinguished by a different color derivated from nature (azure from sky, yellow from sun light, green from trees...); a decorative function but also a symbolic value of belonging and identification of properties. The rays of the sun trace sensibily varied lights and shades thanks to the connection between the straight above-mentioned roof and the modulation of the blocks.

Access to appartments are different depending of simplex, duplex or combined cases; the common stairs distribute floors from underground levels (garage) to the roof, but galleries are always variable in lenght and widht and are freely anchored to the main roof columns. All that for elimination of uniformity preserving the possibility of unification.

To extreme misure it would be also possible to sell a space under the roof and leave the owner to present a new architectural proposal amplifying the variation of formal shapes.


Green.

The different articulation of the residential blocks under the common straight roofs makes many variable “green episodes” enriching the whole residential area with private, public and semipublic spaces. Pedestrian and cycle track pass trough them and create a network of common spaces ( square, green, public facilities).

All the residential area is strictly forbidden to motor vehicoles.


The riverside is phisically divided by the phytodepuration pool in order to mainteine the public fruition of the pier that is reinforced with a concrete quay and stone finish. A row of trees scan the pedestrian way that finishes to north against a building in form of a frustum of a cone; this structure contains a restaurant and a landing-stage for turistic boats and it’s close to a public parkplace and offices/shops becoming the head of the entire contest area.

From this point it’s possible to restart planning residential building on the other side for future development along the Duna River.

The parking lot situated under the blocks tangent to Vaci Street is entirely covered with a pensile garden to mitigate the impact of this necessary but invadent structure. From the appartment the view of the area is not disturbed and there is a pre-eminence of natural elements. It’s also preserved the view to Népziget peninsula with its natural park.

The pedestrian bank, that distribute the glass galleries into the residential blocks, hides under its structure public facilities oriented to Vaci Street. All the project is planned to presents itself as more naturalistic as possible.

Only the height and the shape of the common roof structure would remember the past industrial function of Angyalföld. From the River the skyline of the project is proper to portual landscape.




This project provides about 70.000 m2 residential and office floor space distributed in the whole area with buildings of 5 or 6 floors; the masterplan privileges the quality of life against population density. The residential area, infact, would be assigned to the medium class that rappresent  in every modern country the spine of economy. Important then to adequate the area to his needs and hopes. However he structural and space grid of the project permits to reconsider the density of the residential units, even if it’s not certainly the best and more current choice. In modern and so important development it’s a must to consider also the thesis of the Bioarchitecture for a general best living in agreement with nature and this project would propose this approach for Angyalföld.