Located in the green belt of Budapest along on the slopes of the Buda Hills, István Bényei's architectural office is based in a spot that epitomises the studio. Built out of an industrial ruin that was cluttered with extensions, the building was saved from destruction. Its aim, while respecting the work of the original architect, was to create a clean, transparent, and 21st Century structure.
The building evokes the most basic form of a "house" as we might subconsciously understand it in our culture, the sort of ‘typical’ home a child might draw. However, behind those basic lines there is a deliberate editing. The area was dominated by these forms over one and a half centuries ago, and so the studio not only communicates a contemporary presence on the hillside but calls back to its centuries-old past. The glass wall of the meeting room offers a magnificent view of the hillside, with the city’s famed cogwheel railway running next to the building, the popular means of transport used to take passengers from the center of the city to the János Hill where a grand view of the city can be seen. The building’s sights reflect the essence of the studio, which itself believes in the harmony of industrial heritage and natural value.
2016
2017
Istvan Benyei, Gyorgy Hoffmann, Adam Szabo
