Discovering the Dike (Kopaszi gát)

In this episode of Budacast we speek to Bence Turányi, an architect who designed the mod buildings on Budapest's 'Kopaszi gát', a dike in the middle of the Danube river, not far from the Lágymányosi bridge.

In the past, he says, it was an abandoned industrial site that was quite polluted. He and his father took part in an architectural competition to re-vamp the dike. Standing among the new buildings on the short peninsula one can see a variety of historic industrial buildings on the Buda side of the river. Just before the refurbishment project, the Kopaszi Gat was the site of Budapest's wonderful underground nightclub 'West Balkan'.

Today the property is a lengthy, tree-lined open space with numerous contemporary lightweight structures to greet you as you make your way towards the far end. These buildings, says Turányi, were inspired by buildings built near Hungary's lake Balaton in the late 1960s. He adds that the buildings,which make extensive use of wooden panels and have lots of shaded open space on their exteriors, were not built for an eternity but just for a temporary period.

Bence also offers us his assessment of architecture in Budapest and even talks about the lack of will to preserve some of the capital's architectural heritage.

LISTEN TO:
Discovering the Dike (Kopaszi gat)

More info:
Turányi & Turányi