Budapest, June 28 (MTI) – Budapest police BRFK removed 33 activists from a construction site at the City Park and detained one person on Tuesday.
BRFK said in a statement that the protesters had pulled down a cordon and entered the site to stage a demonstration, but the event “lost the character of a peaceful gathering as defined in the constitution”.
Városliget Zrt., the company in charge of the contested Liget project aimed at building a new museum complex in the popular park, said in a statement that a “rowdy group of protesters attacked the site” and “climbed illegally” on top of a building deemed for demolition.
The protest “jeopardised the artefacts of a national collection”, Városliget said, referring to the collections of the Transport Museum, the building to be pulled down, Városliget said in their statement. They noted their commitment to “avoiding that anybody should be harmed during the demolition works” and argued that putting up a cordon and employing security guards had “exclusively served that purpose”.
Earlier in the day, police had detained several protesters including a municipal representative.
The opposition LMP and Democratic Coalition (DK) parties voiced support for what they see an illegal development project. DK demanded an investigation into alleged violence by security guards and police “siding with the thugs” during a protest on Sunday.
Budapest, June 28 (MTI) – The small opposition LMP party has expressed support for civil activists trying to block work under way in Budapest’s City Park within the contested Liget Project, and declared the construction illegal.
László Heltai, LMP’s local representative, told MTI that the whole project, aimed at building a complex of museums in the popular park, was illegal, and insisted that local residents had not been consulted.
Heltai said that plans for the earthworks had not been presented, nor was it clear how many trees would be cut down to give room for an underground car park next to the Museum of Transport, on the northeastern border of the park.
Earlier in the day, the protesters of Ligetvédők (City Park Protectors) pulled down a cordon around the construction site and sat on the ground. Police detained several protesters including János Barta, another municipal representative, Heltai said.
Some protesters climbed onto the museum building and chained themselves to the rails of upstairs windows.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Coalition (DK) party held a press conference, at which Eszter Sebestyén, an activist of the Ligetvedok group, reported injuries which she suffered during violent treatment by security guards and police during a protest on Sunday.
DK spokesman Zsolt Gréczy demanded that the interior minister should launch an investigation concerning the “violent thugs” and police “siding with them”.
In a statement, Budapest police BRFK said that Sebestyén was being detained “under suspicion of criminal activities” but she resisted. “The necessary amount of coercion was applied,” the statement said.
Budapest, June 8 (MTI) – Budapest Municipal Council on Wednesday voted to bring building regulations for the City Park (Városliget) area in line with a government decree issued in December last year.
Councillors approved the motion with 19 in favour, 8 against and one abstension, amid protest from activists in the ranks of the audience.
The changes will help the 157 billion forint (EUR 505.5m) Liget Project meet its deadline for completion of 2019. Under the approved changes the building regulations will no longer require that all flat roof surfaces built during the park’s reconstruction should be covered with green gardens. At the same time it will allow retail services to operate in the City Park area.
Opposition party councillors voiced protest against the plans which include building a museum quarter in the City Park. Gergely Karácsony, the mayor of district 14, said the plans are against Budapest’s own earlier-declared development plans. Csaba Horváth, a representative for the Socialists, said the museum quarter should be built behind the Nyugati railway station or on an area a bit north of that.
Budapest István Tarlós said if the tables were reversed the opposition would not do what they are asking him to do: to block an important state project.
Budapest, June 8 (MTI) – The capital should seek an expert opinion from UNESCO on the planned Liget Project, a scheme involving the construction of a museum quarter in Budapest’s City Park, the mayor of Budapest’s 14th district said on Wednesday. More than 300 million forints (EUR 1m) will be spent this year on developing green areas in Budapest, the City Assembly decided at its session on Wednesday.
Gergely Karácsony told a press conference ahead of a meeting of the municipal assembly that the project warrants consultation with UNESCO because the City Park is located in a world heritage site.
If Budapest fails to consult the cultural heritage body before approving the project, the resolution could be considered legally invalid, Karácsony, co-leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary party, said.
He said municipal leaders had so far ignored both professional and civil protests over the project and are now set to pass a resolution that will make way for the “destruction” of the City Park.
Earlier on Wednesday, civil activist group Ligetvédők said municipal leaders plan to chop down more than 2,000 trees in the near future. Gergely Csák, one of the activists, said the tree-felling would lead to an environmental disaster.
Silent protests were held at the city assembly against plans to cut down 600-800 trees in the City Park to make way for the state-backed museum quarter. Another mass tree-felling is planned at the Roma banks of the River Danube affecting 1,100 trees while in the Orczy Park in Pest plans are to fell 300.
Budapest to spend over EUR 1m on green areas this year
Fully 200 million forints will be spent on upgrading a playing field area on Gellért Hill, while 15 million will be ploughed into a similar project at Feneketlen Lake on the Buda side.
Other projects include revamping a public park at Krúdy Gyula street on the Pest side and Jozsef Street in the central 8th district, as well as areas around József Attila Theatre in the 13th district and the Népliget Park in the outer 10th district.
The proposal was approved with 23 votes in favour and 4 abstentions.
According to origo.hu, the winner of City Park’s landscape architectural contest was announced. They plan on planting more than a thousand new trees and establishing a two kilometre running track.
The Városliget Inc. invited entries for the application in the end of last year with the aim of renovating the historic buildings of the City Park and boosting the park to a 21st century level. Besides the renewal of the park, old buildings will be renovated and new ones will be constructed like the Museum of Ethnography, which we had previously reported on. The renovation of the park will cost 15 billion forints and it concerns the renewal of the park’s functions, the expansion and rehabilitation of its flora. The initiation is unique in Hungary as so much money has never been spent on the renovation or the establishment of a public park.
All in all seven landscape architectural offices entered the application, which means that almost 50 landscape architects, gardeners, vehicular professionals and architects worked on the applications. The professional jury chose the plan of Garten Studio Kft. with one consent. For the rest, the jury awarded all plans and distributed 32 million forints among the contestants.
The jury mainly chose Garten Studio Kft. because they designed freely manageable spaces and had a great attitude towards the historic elements of the park, thus towards the original plan which was dreamed by Heinrich Christian Nebbien. Moreover, they designed great recreational opportunities and minimalised the amount of concrete covered locations. They also plan on making the City Park accessible for everyone.
The City Park is almost 200 years old and has been decaying in the past couple of years. Besides the neglected buildings the flora became quite frowsy and families now have very few opportunities to relax or spend their free time actively. Before the application, Városliget Inc. asked the opinion of many organisations, institutions and locals. They asked schools, elderly’s homes, cyclists, dog keepers, families and green organisations how they would change the park. The majority of these civilian ideas were incorporated into the application, thus into the winner plan.
In their video we can see how the Károly Kós walk will look like and how the Petőfi Hall will change into the new National Gallery. Probably the Transport Museum will go through the most spectacular transformation. They will also be reconstructing the Olof Palme House and establishing a rosary in front of it. The House of Hungarian Music will be constructed in the place of Hungexpo’s sleazy offices.
Currently, the green zones form 60% of the City Park, buildings the 5%, and the other 35% are concreted roads and parking lots. According to the plans of Garten Studio Kft, the rate of green zones will be increased by 5%. The Liget Budapest Project destines long-term sustainability for the park so the attendance of 600 ill trees is a primary aspect. The winner project plans on planting 1000 new trees and of course tending to them permanently. The works will be started in 2017 and expected to be finished in 2019.
According to webradio.hu, the international jury found the Napur Architect Kft. led consortium’s plan the best by common consent, so the Hungarian architectural company will be the one to design the new building of the Museum of Ethnography at Ötvenhatosok Square as part of the Liget Budapest project.
The new home of the Museum of Ethnography, which will satisfy all needs of professionals and visitors, will be finished in 2019 according to the plans. The capital city will not only get a new emblematic building with the new museum, but the institution guarding hundred thousands of relics will finally have a deserving home after 140 years.
The work was chosen by the international and Hungarian members of the committee by common consent, since it will perfectly fit into the environment between City Park and Dózsa György Road and will be a neatly traced, emblematic building, which could become a symbol at an international level as well. It will completely satisfy the technological and collective needs of the Museum of Ethnography and is also valued from a sustainability aspect.
The Városliget Inc. invited international entries for the design of the museum’s new building at the end of last year. 13 companies entered the competition: Bánáti + Hartvig Architectural Office Kft, Bernard Tschumi Architects, BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Budapest University of Technology and Economics + Mihály Balázs, COOP HIMMELB(L)AU – Wolf D. Prix & Partner ZT GmbH, Dominique Perrault Architect, EAA Emre Arolat Architecture, Középülettervező Zrt., Napur Architect Kft, Sauerbruch Hutton, Architecture-Studio, International GmbH, and Zaha Hadid Limited.
Besides the architectural quality and solutions of the future museum, the jury also rated the technological and functional ideas (like the potential visitor experience and museum technological solutions), the sustainability of the designed building (energy efficiency, ecology), the dialogue with the environment (how it blends in with the city scape, green zones and the City Park) and the expected expenses.
MTI
The announcement emphasizes that the Museum of Ethnography will finally get a deserving place as it currently functions in a very tight place. The institution, founded in 1872, is the number one Hungarian centre for ethnography, European ethnology and cultural anthropology, which was never really able to showcase the whole of its collection.
So, with the moving of the museum, visitors will be able to see relics that have been resting in the storeroom for very long years in a modern and permanent exhibition. The museum is also returning to its original home as the ethnographical collection was first introduced on the Millennial Exhibition in the City Park and had its centre in the Industrial Hall between 1906 and 1924.
The City Park will be renewed by the end of this decade, which doesn’t only mean the construction of new buildings, but also the renovation of the old ones and the expansion of the green zones. The connection between the park and the built up environment has a key role in the Liget Budapest Project, so the built up density of the City Park will stay under 7%, and the park’s green surface will be expanded from 60% to 65%.
Budapest (MTI) – Városliget Zrt, the company managing Liget Project, a scheme involving construction of a museum quarter in Budapest’s City Park, has welcomed a resolution by the district council supporting the project and called on mayor Gergely Karácsony to come up with a “cooperation proposal”.
In its resolution, passed on April 28 with a two-thirds majority of ruling Fidesz and opposition Socialist deputies, the council voted to support the contested project provided that “park functions are retained and renewed” with an increased green areas.
The resolution also obliged Karácsony, of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary party, to sign a cooperation agreement with the project company before May 31.
The mayor, however, said he wanted to use his veto against the decision which he said was “entirely against” his own principles and the environmental programme of the local leftist coalition.
In a statement, the local Fidesz group said that Karácsony had apparently “not managed to grasp” that the body has repeatedly expressed support for the Liget development.
On April 24, over 500 people protested against the project and demanded that plans to change the park should be dropped. Participants voiced concern over the trees cut down to give way to new construction and said the new structures would destroy the popular park.
Budapest, April 24 (MTI) – Civil groups held a demonstration on Sunday against a development project in the City Park, dubbed the Liget Project, which includes constructing a museum quarter.
Over five hundred participants adopted a symbol of their protest, a tree growing out of a clenched fist.
Organisers said that civil groups demanded a halt to the project and planned changes to the park withdrawn. Genuine dialogue should be launched on how to revamp the public park, they added.
“Budapest is one of Europe’s most polluted cities and anyone who wants to cut down a single tree here is on an offensive against the city and its residents,” András Lányi, an activist, said. He said the reason why the City Park would be “turned into a construction site” is that the prime minister had decided to use the National Gallery buildings in the Buda Castle for his own purposes and thus a new building is planned to be built for the gallery in the middle of the City Park.
Hajnalka Schmidt, head of Greenpeace Hungary, insisted that the City Park was the world’s first public park and should be maintained and revamped accordingly. “If buildings 20-40 metres high are built here it will lose its purpose as a public park,” she said, adding that according to a survey, 75 percent of Budapest residents oppose the construction of the new buildings.
The project company Városliget Zrt said in response that as a result of the planned upgrade green spaces in the park would grow from the current 60 to 65 percent. Areas now covered in concrete, roads too wide and unnecessary buildings and car parks will be demolished and rehabilitated with green areas, a statement from the company said on Sunday. Motor traffic through the park will be significantly reduced, too, it added.
Budapest, April 22 (MTI) – The green opposition LMP is up in arms about tree-felling in Budapest backed by the ruling Fidesz party and the city council, the party’s representative in the general assembly said on Friday.
“Fidesz is an enemy to every tree and indirectly to every Budapest resident,” Antal Csárdi told a press conference.
Some 600 trees are threatened due to a planned development project, the Liget project, in the City Park and more than a 100 trees have been chopped down in the area in front of the university of public administration, while in addition 1,500 trees are in danger in northern Budapest’s Romai embankment, he said.
Only 6 square metres of green space exists per Budapest resident and this cannot guarantee the right to a healthy environment, he said. If the green areas in the city are further reduced, Budapest will become unsuitable for living in, he added.
LMP local council representative in Budapest’s 6th district László Heltai said the future of the City Park is an important issue to discuss on Earth Day. The new buildings planned to be built will destroy a third of the park and the information on leaflets distributed by the project company Varosliget is misleading and false, he added.
The Socialist party does not support the Liget project, Csaba Tóth, a lawmaker for the party, told MTI. He said that contrary to reports, the Zugló local council on Thursday had not voted support for the project, it simply gave district mayor Gergely Karacsony a mandate for talks with Varosliget for the purpose of learning more details about it. He said the City Park should remain a high-priority green area in the city which requires upgrades, but not ones where “buildings are crowding over the park”. Local councillors of an alliance of the Socialists and the Together for Zuglo group voted with Fidesz on the proposal to sit down to talks with Varosliget Zrt. All other councillors voted against this proposal.
Technical director of the company Attila Sághi told the press that the City Park needs to be revamped and more green areas are indeed needed. Detailed plans will be presented in mid-May so that everybody can rest assured that more car-free zones and green areas will be built, he added.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Gergely Karácsony said he had vetoed the district assembly’s support for the Liget project. Co-leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party, Karácsony said he strongly disagrees with the council’s decision, which he said is just a “fatal misunderstanding” and he hopes the assembly would later change its mind. “I will not give my name to any of this,” Karácsony said, adding that many councillors who voted ‘yes’ on Thursday had campaigned to save the City Park before the elections.
According to szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, the majority of the respondents do not want more museums to be built in the City Park. However, they would be happy if the park could be renovated. In addition, the people do not agree with the moving of some government offices to the Buda Castle – research of Ipsos revealed. The results were published by index.hu.
Ipsos polled how the Budapest residents would support the planned museum district worth HUF 200 billion. The research was ordered by Levegő Munkacsoport (Air Action Group). The answers revealed that 55-75% of the respondents reject the plan.
3 different questions were asked about the proposed development:
-Do you agree that new facilities should be established in the City Park?
75% of the respondents disagreed.
-Do you agree that a significantly expanded museum and cultural district with a number of new buildings should be developed in the City Park?
64% disagreed with it.
– Do you agree that the City Park should be renewed with newly constructed museum buildings?
55% did not agree with it.
Almost everyone agreed that the dilapidated green spaces, playgrounds, sports fields and alleys should be renewed. According to 75% only these should be renovated, szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu wrote.
The survey showed that 83% does not want the Hungarian National Gallery to be removed from the Buda Castle into the City Park. 77% rejects that some government offices should move to the Buda Castle.
However, lots of people support the creation of new green spaces. 85% agree with the landscaping of the tracks behind Nyugati railway station (next to Podmaniczky utca).
Budapest, January 20 (MTI) – Hungary’s supreme court has rejected referendum questions on organising Olympic Games in Budapest and the upgrade of the Varosliget (City Park), overruling the Budapest Election Committee’s earlier approval.
The Budapest Election Committee approved both referendum questions on December 14 last year.
Concerning the rejection of the question of whether citizens agree that Budapest should not apply to host the Olympics in 2024, the Kuria said the capital had already submitted a declaration of intent to host the games to the International Olympic Committee. The deadline to submit the application is February 17, 2016, whereas the referendum would have taken place at a later date, the court noted.
The court said it rejected the question of whether construction regulations in City Park should not allow new museums to be built there because the project is set to go ahead in line with a law regulating the revamp and referendums cannot be held to overrule laws.
Commenting on the ruling, the opposition Egyutt party said that the Kuria made an unacceptable, political decision, which serves the interests of the ruling Fidesz party and denies citizens the opportunity to exercise their constitutional right of voting on important issues. The government has been working on disabling the referendum as a democratic institution for years, and the Kuria’s latest ruling is another step in that direction, Egyutt said.
The Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party called the ruling wrong. Co-leader Gergely Karacsony said his party is unsure whether the decision was a political one but it will resubmit both referendum initiatives. Regarding the rejection of the question concerning the City Park revamp, which he submitted, Karacsony said the court’s reasoning behind its decision was flawed, as the law on the revamp does not specify that new museums must be built in the area.
Katalin Erdelyi, who submitted the question on Budapest’s Olympic bid, said the Kuria made a political ruling by rejecting it and that its reasoning was flawed in this case, too. “If the question had been whether citizens agree that Budapest should withdraw its bid, then the court would have rejected it saying that the bid had not even been submitted yet,” she said, referring to the February 17 deadline
Budapest (MTI) – The opposition LMP party supports the referendum initiatives on organising the Budapest Olympics and the upgrade of the Varosliget (City Park), Antal Csardi, LMP’s councillor in Budapest, said on Saturday.
LMP trusts that the Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, would approve questions on both topics for a referendum in a decision expected on Jan 28, Csardi told a press conference held jointly with LMP’s spokesman on community participation Istvan Ferenczi.
Under the latest plans the government wants to spend 2.3 trillion forints (EUR 7.3bn) on the Olympics, which based on international experiences and the government’s “corrupt practices” is more likely to be around 3-4 trillion, Csardi said. LMP does not think Hungary can afford to spend this much on a “sporting event that lasts a few weeks,” he said, adding that Budapest is not prepared for the Games, as the city is struggling even with paying for transport services in greater Budapest. In addition LMP wants the City Park to maintain its function as a green belt of the city and should not be “covered in blocks of concrete”.
On December 14 last year, the Budapest Election Committee approved for local referendum a question on the City Park project submitted by Gergely Karacsony, co-leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary (PM) party, and one on organising the Olympics submitted by a private individual. Karacsony said at the time that given that the initiatives are likely to be attacked, it could be late January or early February that the signature drive for the referendum can begin.
In 2015 important renovations and traffic development projects have been started and finished, and huge visual investments were decided on, not to mention the Olympic application. Portfolio.hu collected the most important projects of 2015 and showed what is expected in 2016.
Change of Nyugati Square
Nyugati Square as one of the busiest public spaces of the capital has been renewed after decades of waiting. The staircase became narrower and shorter, but a “sitting-out” stair has also been created. In the evening a unique floodlight activates. The square became much brighter, the fountain has been renewed as well. Lots of people criticized the HUF 509 million-project, since it did not affect the subway under the square which is in a very bad condition. Read more HERE.
Szervita Square has been renewed
The downtown Szervita Square has been renewed under the framework of the TER-KOZ tender, so the “main street of the city” shows a single image. The square became much friendlier, it got a new cover, new seats have been created and the green area has been increased as well, portfolio.hu wrote.
Rebuilding of Szell Kalman Square
It is one of the most important and longest-awaited infrastructural investments of the capital, which has been in progress for almost a year. The completion is expected in May 2016. However, the image of the square has still changed a lot. The new rail and road network became finished, the escalator became placed and the renovation of the metro exit and the stop buildings are close to being completed as well. In addition, the creation of green areas is in progress, too. Read more HERE.
Museum Quarter is being constructed in a moderate pace
This year, plans of Liget Budapest project have been modified significantly; there will be less buildings than previously planned. The construction of two new buildings was decided which will be built by famous Japanese architects. The Hungarian Music House will stand where the former-Hungexpo offices were, while the New National Gallery will be built in the area of the Petofi Hall. A new tender was announced for the Museum of Ethnography, while the Museum of Photography and the Hungarian Museum of Architecture are not part of the project anymore. The government provides more than HUF 156 billion for the project between 2016 and 2019. Read more HERE.
Spectacular development of Buda Castle
According to portfolio.hu, the reconstruction plans of the Buda Castle Foal Yard and its surroundings have been presented. In addition to the original function, the building will operate as an event space as well. There will be 16 stalls for the horses, the Main Guard building will be rebuilt on the original site, which will be the home of the re-established palace guards and exhibition spaces. From here, you can visit the archaeological exhibition site after the exploration of the medieval castle ruins.
Square renovation in Kispest
In the spring, BKK started the refurbishment of the Hatar Road junction. They renew the bus terminal, pedestrian areas will be increased and booths will disappear. The project costs HUF 430 million which is provided by the Municipality of Budapest.
World’s longest trams in Budapest
Under the tram and trolley purchase program of BKK (Budapest Transport Center), 47 new CAF Urbos3 trams will operate in Budapest in the next one and a half year. The shorter ones are still operating on the tram line 3, but soon they will be appear at the Buda intertwining tram network, too. The world record-holder trams (56m-long, 345 seats) will operate on the line 1. The deploying of the first 56m-long tram is expected in March 2016, the last one will arrive July 2016, portfolio.hu wrote.
Photo: MTI
New Budapest stadium constructions
The construction of the Puskas Ferenc Stadium can be started in the second half of 2016 and it can be completed in 2019. Besides hosting football matches, the facility will be able to organize concerts and conferences. Another stadium project of this year, which has been announced, is Hidegkuti Nandor Stadium. It will cost HUF 6 billion.
The technical handover of the tram network has been ended on deadline, and the trams can operate from January 16, 2016. It was one of the most important fixed track transport development projects of Buda. As a result, there will be transfer-free connections between North, Central and South Buda. Read more here: BUDAPEST PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR IT, NOW IT IS READY
The first air-conditioned trolley buses arrived
The first Solaris-Skoda trolley buses are now operating on the streets of Budapest. There are 16 articulated and 20 solo buses which are air-conditioned and can move 4km without overhead lines. The total value of the public procurement is HUF 18 billion (EUR 62.4 million) which enables to buy 108 buses. Read more here: NEW TROLLEY BUSES ON THE STREETS OF BUDAPEST
+1. Now you can drink from fire hydrants
According to portfolio.hu, the founders of Ivokut Projekt turned fire hydrants into drinking fountains simply and cheaply, and their original function remains as well. As we wrote, Budapest City Image Ltd. (BVA) and Budapest Waterworks jointly bought 43 drinking taps.
Photo: Ivocsap Projekt – ReHydrant Project Facebook page
Japanese award-winning architectural firm SANAA (Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates) won the international competition to design the new Budapest National Gallery, which will be built at Petőfi Hall site in the city park (Liget).
The new National Gallery will open to the public in 2019.
According to inforadio.hu, Csontvary Museum can be built, as part of the Liget II project, in the area to be rehabilitated behind Nyugati railway station in Budapest – newspaper Nepszabadsag wrote.
It is envisaged that Csontvary Museum may be built as part of the Liget II project in the area to be rehabilitated behind Nyugati railway station in Budapest – newspaper Nepszabadsag wrote, referring to the verbal information received from the Prime Minister’s Office. One and a half weeks ago, Janos Lazar, who leads the portfolio, announced the publication of the call for the creation of a new Csontvary Museum where six large works of the master would be displayed.
based on the article of inforadio.hu
translated by BA
Budapest, October 30 (MTI) – The Ludwig Museum will not move into the new National Gallery building planned to be built in the City Park as part of the Liget project, ministry commissioner for the project Laszlo Baan said on Friday.
He told a press conference that the government decided on October 20 that the two museums would not be moved into the same building. As a result, the building to house the New National Gallery can be built on 20 percent smaller space than originally planned, reducing costs. The new museums for architecture and photography will not become part of the Liget project either, he said. A new tender will be invited for creating space for the Museum of Ethnography, as in the original space where it would have been moved to, the Varosliget Theatre, demolished in 1952, would be rebuilt instead, he said.
The first phase of the 200 billion forint (EUR 642m) Liget project is planned to be completed in the spring of 2018 and the remaining parts are to be opened in the summer of 2019.
Budapest, October 26 (MTI) – The government has finalised plans for Budapest’s large-scale Liget museum quarter with some changes, Laszlo Baan, the project’s commissioner, told a parliamentary committee on Monday.
The Liget Budapest project’s original plan involved setting up five museums for Hungarian music, fine arts, architecture, ethnography and photography in City Park (Varosliget).
Under the plan finalised at a cabinet session last week, the ethnography museum would be built at a different location in project area, while the architecture and photography museums would be built somewhere else in Budapest, Baan told the committee for cultural affairs.
As a new component, the plan includes reconstruction of the City Park Theatre which was demolished in 1952, at the site it once stood, at the corner of Dozsa Gyorgy and Ajtosi Durer roads.
The 200 billion forint (EUR 641m) project’s first phase is planned to be concluded in the spring of 2018, the second phase by the summer of 2019, said Baan.
Budapest, June 10 (MTI) – Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto signed a contract on Wednesday to design the Bartok Centre – House of Hungarian Music to be built in Budapest’s City Park as part of the Liget Project.
Liget Budapest Project ministerial commissioner Laszlo Baan said after the signing that the contract covers the preparation of plans, to be submitted by the end of this year, after which a public procurement tender for the construction can be invited in the first part of next year. The building is planned to open in the spring of 2018.
Fujimoto said it was a most exciting challenge to integrate a building into nature, and the reason he submitted a bid was that the House of Hungarian Music will be built in the middle of a park.
