City Park is changing
Posted by Mia Balogh · Jan 28, 2015

City Park is not only a historic and cultural part of Budapest, but a place to face development in the near-future, too. The plans concerning the reconstruction of this area already sparked heated debate – let’s see these plans, the views and complaints. 

 

City Park (Városliget) is the world’s first public park, founded in the 19th century. But the idea of its creation dates back to 1794, when the then mayor, János Boráros made a proposal for it. In 1813, a tender for its establishment was announced, and later the City Park was designed according to the plans of a German architect Henrik Nebbien. In the following decades, a zoo, an amusement park, Vajdahunyad castle and an ice rink were built here, as well, just like Museum of Fine Arts, Kunsthalle and Museum of Transport.

photo:http://images.magyarmuzeumok.hu/

So it is easy to see and to understand, that City Park is much more than a place to go out for a nice evening walk, for a run, or just for having fun with friends. It is also a place for culture and art, and an area of the Hungarian capital which needs development for some time now. There are lots of neglected buildings, and roads dividing the park and shouting in need of reconstruction.

Last year, there was an international tender for five new museum buildings behind Heroes Square, in the so-called future Museum District. The winners of the tender are already known: the Museum of Ethnography will be built according to the plans of French architects Vallet de Martinis DIID Architectes, the House of Hungarian Music will be designed by the Japanese Sou Fujimoto Architects, while the Hungarian firm Középülettervező Zrt. (public building design company) gave the winning plans for both PhotoMuseum Budapest and the Museum of Hungarian Architecture.

photo:http://shubinanddonaldson.com/

The first plan projected five museum buildings at the axis of Felvonulási Square and Dózsa György Road. People were protesting almost immediately, saying that it would separate the City Park from downtown Budapest. So the ideas won a new visual concept: a pavilion-like placement, but opponents still think that too many green surfaces would be sacrificed for the plan. Others are questioning the ratio behind placing all five museums in one place, although City Park is suitable from many points of view to be such a big cultural centre.

Personally, I live near the City Park for already 8 years so it has already become part of my life. I agree that reconstructions and changes are inevitable here, concerning especially the roads – at some parts of the park, we have to be extra careful by bicycle. And I think that the plans of the new buildings are really grandiose and considerable, but I agree with those who suggest that some of the museums should be opened for example in Andrássy Road or in Buda Castle. So there would be less construction, more green area, and cultural plans could advance, as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-XkwTZZEkM

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