Skip to main content

Snøhetta unveils masterplan for island-like student district in Budapest

Budapest South Gate masterplan by Snøhetta
A masterplan drawn up by architecture firm Snøhetta envisions an "island" neighbourhood for 12,000 students off the Danube river in south Budapest.
Snøhetta won the Budapest South Gate International Masterplan Design Competition with its design, which involves creating a new channel of water off the Danube branch to form a new peninsular.
Accommodation for 12,000 students is proposed across the 135-hectare site. There will also be education and sporting facilities, set between parks and recreation areas.
An athletics arena in the South Gate will have the capacity to seat 15,000, and the district will be connected to the upcoming Danubias railway station.
Snøhetta, which has offices in Oslo and New York, was selected to design the new neighbourhood ahead of 17 other invited applicants including UNStudio, Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Adept and Squire and Partners.
The competition jury praised Snøhetta for making clever use of water and abundant green spaces in its design.
"It boldly accepts the challenge of developing a new neighbourhood in Budapest that does not yet exist. It captures the opportunities of the area – offered by water, green belts and the characteristics of an island," said the judges.
Budapest South Gate masterplan by Snøhetta
Housing for 12,000 students is proposed across the 135-hectare site
Currently a brownfield site, the peninsula in the south of Hungarian capital is being developed as part of the Budapest 2030 plan – a planning strategy that sets out the city's aims to be more sustainable, energy-efficient and socially minded.
"Budapest has an appropriate potential to become one of the example-giving cities of the world in the next 20 years, in respect of economic and innovation activities, the state of the constructed and natural environments, cultural achievements and possibilities to the population alike," said Budapest mayor István Tarlós.
Also at the southern end of the city, UNStudio has designed a combination tram, rail, cycle and pedestrian bridge over the Danube.
Foster + Partners has designed a 120-metre tower for Budapest, despite a citywide ban on buildings over 90 metres high.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ZUO Studio Uses All Bamboo Species Of Taiwan For This Seed-Looking Pavilion In Taichung City

Taiwanese architecture firm  ZUO Studio  has designed this pavilion by using all bamboo species of Taiwan that can be found in Taichung City. Named Bamboo Pavilion, the architects mixed all constructional techniques in dimension and weaving to give the pavilion a sense of timeless space that reflects consistency. Situated on a river in the fourth area of Fengyuan Huludun Park, the pavilion, covering a 1,570-square-metre area, has been designed as an exhibition hall sponsored by Taichung Real Estate Development Association. "Since the association is mostly composed by the greatest building construction companies, our main goal was how to combine their pure spirit with Flora Exposition, including care for physical and mental health, the devotedness in social benefit, and engineering method, with the strength and feature of the green building materials from Taiwan," said the architects. Since the architects are much more interested in the use of different construc
Post a Comment
Read more

Ryo Kan hotel blends Mexican materials and Japanese traditions

Guests at this  hotel  in  Mexico City , designed by local architect Regina Galvanduque, can bathe in rooftop jacuzzis, drink tea on tatami mats or find zen in its courtyard garden. Galvanduque, who runs  GLVDK Studio , designed the  Ryo Kan  hotel for slender plot on Rio Panuco in the city's Cuauhtémoc neighbourhood. The surrounding area has become known as Little Tokyo, making it particularly apt for the hotel, which is intended as a fusion of "Japanese and Mexican identity and values". The hotel is named after "ryokan" – a traditional Japanese inn – and follows the country's hospitality approach as Omotenashi. As a result, many features of Galvanduque's design take cues from Japanese culture, liked the striated white facade of the building based on origami paper folds. Accommodation is arranged around a slender courtyard outfitted like a Japanese garden. A glazed roof tops the space to provide plenty of natural light to stone benches
Post a Comment
Read more

Japanese house by Kouichi Kimura includes white-tiled courtyard for yoga

A chimney-like tower covered in white tiles rises in the courtyard of this house in Shiga,  Japan , which architect  Kouichi Kimura  has designed for the owner to host yoga classes. Located away from a busy main road, the two-storey residence combines a large block with a smaller one that appears to be slotted on top. There are no windows on the street-facing walls to offer plenty of privacy from passerbys. The only opening is the front door of the house, which provides a view straight through to the courtyard. Kouichi Kimura of Japanese studio  Form  designed the ground floor of the 112-square-metre house as the primary space for the resident to teach the meditative practice of yoga. The living room and the L-shaped courtyard arranged around it are linked by pair of sliding glass doors. They can be opened fully to provide one space, or closed to create separate areas. "Linkage between exterior and interior spaces were identified to realise a living space that expand
Post a Comment
Read more