Preservation and reconsideration of the modern buildings built in the socialist/communist era is one of the most exciting architectural challenges of our time. The Association of Hungarian Architects recently organized a timely conference on the renovability of post-war built heritage “living with us” and the challenges of their protection. The current topic was also catalyzed by the case of the Körszálló, which originally was (and is) designed by KÖZTI. This important event has been published as an appendix of OCTOGON.
The utilization of the late modern buildings poses great challenges for the profession, real estate developers and architects alike. At the professional conference of the Association of Hungarian Architects, architectural historians presented the monuments of the era, also covering theoretical approaches to the issue. The architects and real estate developers presented buildings completed recently and under construction, from the former MÉMOSZ headquarters, through the Sofitel, the Láng Művház and the rebuilt Gellert Hill Corvinus Campus to the Népstadion.
In addition to art historians, the audience was introduced to the Körszálló project through a presentation by Tima Zoltán, design director of KÖZTI, and then the invited guests discussed the questions raised in a panel discussion as well. The aim of the conference was to introduce different viewpoints and to promote common thinking between the real estate development, architectural and art historian professionals.
Further details can be found in the recent issue of OCTOGON: https://www.octogon.hu/projektek/szocmodern-epuletek-hasznositasa-melleklet-2025/
