Modern and traditional – This is what the campus of Pázmány Péter University will look like – PHOTOS
The new downtown campus of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University will be designed by the leading designers of Közti Zrt. and Hamburg C Kft. The campus will integrate historic buildings, such as the Esterházy and Károly Palaces, which were used until recently by the Hungarian Radio.
The Budapest Development Centre announced an open, international tender for the design of the new campus of Pázmány Péter Catholic University in June, and the committee selected the winner from 10 high-quality works. The contestants had to design a modern building complex with a total net usable area of 53,000 square metres to replace the university’s current campuses located in different areas.
The committee included András Veres, the representative of the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, Gyöngyvér Iványi, state chief architect, the representatives of the Association of Hungarian Architects and the Chamber of Hungarian Architects, and it was headed by Balázs Fürjes, Minister of State for Budapest and the Development of the Capital’s Metropolitan Area.
The new campus of the university will be located in the centre of Józsefváros, in the Palace District. Thus,
the biggest and most interesting challenge designers had to face was finding a way to preserve the values of the area where the buildings were built in a very heterogeneous way and in different ages and creating a campus area that meets the diverse needs of higher education,
including a university library, lecture halls, classrooms, laboratories, IT research centres, and sports facilities, writes Dávid Vitézy, the CEO of the Budapest Development Agency, on his Facebook page.
This will be the most beautiful tramline in Budapest!
The main goal is to create a university campus that meets the needs of the 21st century where students, professors and researchers can pursue their daily activities in high-quality educational and community spaces. It will also reflect the centuries-old spirit of the Catholic University and fit well into the atmosphere of the 19th-century Palace District. Dávid Vitézy emphasises that
the investment goes beyond the mere transformation and renovation of the buildings, it is also a form of urban development. With the new campus of the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, a local city centre is created in Józsefváros, which will be divided into green areas and will operate as an exciting public space.
In the tender, Budapest Development Centre focused on pedestrian and bicycle access with a minimum parking area, as the campus will be easily reached by public transport, writes Hello Magyar.
Trams 47 and 49, M3 and M4 metro stops are nearby, and the M5 is being built in parallel with the university investment.
The new campus will also be home to approximately 4,000 students in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and, in part, the Faculty of Information Technology and Bionics, adds Balázs Fürjes. The investment is expected to be completed by 2027.
Source: facebook.com, hellomagyar.hu
Looks like a great project. It’s too bad the Hungarian radio bldg. it was a great example of a mid century building. This will be the 4th to be torn down in the last 5 years.