Budapest’s new chief architect says there will be no skyscrapers in the capital

Zoltán Erő hopes that the government will rethink its plans about rebuilding the Castle district and that the leadership of Budapest will be asked about the state-financed investments concerning the capital.

According to nepszava.hu, Mr Erő said that it is an honour to be the chief architect of Budapest and the field is not unknown for him since in the last 30 years he had many projects during which he actively took part in the work. He added that being an architect is creative work. However, if he feels that the new leadership of the city uses him as a bureaucrat instead of taking into consideration his professional opinion and experience, he will resign. He cleared that

he does not have the power to block any investments

the government or the city decides, but he can express his counter-advice and can postpone the execution of such orders if he thinks that they are against the interests of Budapest.

The chief architect said that the government has the financial resources, many of the important buildings and thanks to its parliamentary supermajority it has the opportunity to change the laws when it wants. Thus, he said that he would like to create a professionally powerful team with which he would like to get involved in every project from their starting point. By this, Budapest will be able to influence the development of every project.

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He said that currently, the government concentrates on the development of the Southern part of the city. Since

Budapest does not have the financial resources

to launch massive projects they have to call the attention of the cabinet that, for example, building the Aquincum bridge (3rd district) cannot be postponed in the North.

About the housing crisis, he said that the city council is now drafting a proposal in the issue and they would like to motivate the utilisation of those flats that are currently empty. He added that it would be the best, if modern houses were built in Budapest using the technical solutions of the 21st century; however, the capital has no financial resources to execute such programs.

There is a plan to strengthen the relationship between the locals and the Danube. Therefore,

the Pest embankment will be closed during the summer

but, of course, this is not a solution so the cars will be allowed back there. Without the proper financial tools, it is only a long-range goal to create a car-free embankment.

Zoltán Erő added that the government should let Budapest have a word about their plans to rebuild the castle district. About the MOL tower criticised by the UNESCO he said that in a European comparison it is not very high and in its neighbourhood, there are exciting architectural solutions.

Source: nepszava.hu