Eger
How can a group of young architects find their home in today’s world without money and commissions? Only if they create a suitable environment for themselves, from which the local community can also profit. The North Hungarian town of Eger presents a great example of this.
“We contacted the local government to provide us with a building that no one finds the inspiration to refurbish. We were granted a 15-year lease of the decaying building located in the middle of an old park. We had outlined a sustainable model hinged on local needs: we had undertaken to implement a value-added reconstruction and fill the building with cultural content.
We reversed the usual course of planning: first, we found material support for the required tasks and then came up with architectural solutions to match the materials offered by sponsors. In less than a year, we managed to fill the building with content, and using the construction materials received and recycling the objects found on site, we wrapped it in a new exterior.
In addition to NGO sponsors and our contacts in the construction industry, we managed to involve students of a local polytechnic high school and convicts from the local penal institution.
The planning process gained new meaning, and the construction became a collective activity, which even pushed the building itself slightly into the background: the greatest added value of the project turned out to be the growing social network of organizers and collaborators.”
Gábor Fábián – Dénes Fajcsák
architects – arkt
Venice
Curators: Gábor Fábián and Dénes Fajcsák
Exhibitor: arkt
Organisator: Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest
www.ludwigmuseum.hu
Commissioner: Julia Fabényi
Coordinators: Géza Boros, Anna Bálványos, István Puskás
With the support of Ministry of Human Capacities
the catalogue
Published by Ludwig Museum – Museum of Contemporary Art Budapest
Editor: Géza Boros
Texts: Julia Fabényi, Gábor Fábián, Dénes Fajcsák, Levente Polyák, Krisztina Somogyi, Zsolt Szijártó
Graphic Design: Veronika Juhász
English Translation: Sipos Dániel
Copy Editor: Miklós Zsámboki
Photo: Géza Boros, Dénes Fajcsák, Viktor Korsós, Levente Polyák
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Julia Fabényi: One Millimetre
Levente Polyák: Found Resources, Trust and Collaboration: a New Generation of Cultural Venues in Europe
Krisztina Somogyi: Makeshift – with Positive Overtones. Locality, Activity, Architecture
Zsolt Szijártó: The Ellátó. A Cultural Community Experiment in Eger
Gábor Fábián – Dénes Fajcsák: The Ellátó
Phases
About the Exhibition (Gábor Fábián)
About arkt (Gábor Fábián)
the curators
Dénes Fajcsák
Born in Miskolc, Hungary, in 1978.
He lives and works in Eger, Hungary.
Gábor Fábián
Born in Balassagyarmat, Hungary, in 1979.
He lives in Budapest, works in Budapest and Eger, Hungary.
www.arkt.hu
