Budapest: New Metro Stations win the Archdaily Awards

Metro Stations of Fővám tér, Photo: Tamas Bujnovszky

 

After winning the Architizer A+ Award 2014 for ‘Bus & Train Station’, the twin Metro Stations of Fővám tér – Gellért tér in Budapest, designed by sporaarchitects, won archdaily.com’s Building of the Year Award, 2015, for Public Architecture.

But the way to the grand opening of Metro Line 4 in Budapest in the spring of 2014 was a long one and not so celebratory. After the completion of the first subway line in 1896, for more than 70 years nothing happened by way of underground construction in the capital of Hungary. The second line opened in 1970 and the third one in 1976.

The newest line, with ten stations, connects two railway stations and serves some densely populated parts of the Buda side, which have not had a metro connection until now. The concept of all ten stations was to admit as much light to the platforms as possible and to use fair-faced concrete. This concept resulted in enormous, bright and varied spaces. The two stations connecting the two banks of the River Danube are the most spectacular solutions: a wild forest of giant reinforced concrete beams bear the loads of earth and water pressure.

Another way of handling vast spaces using fair-faced concrete is shown in Moricz Zsigmond körtér station by András Gelesz: descending from street level, passengers pass through a space lit by blue light, down to the dazzling brightness of concrete panels painted in primary and complementary colours.

 

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