Budapest100 presents: the ’70s

Next year we’ll be opening houses that celebrate their 50-ish birthday. Budapest100, which will take place from 9-12 May, will showcase the city’s late modern heritage and launch a debate on its recognition and possible future. Continuing the tradition, the four-day festival will again start with a professional day. The city’s buildings from this period also have a wealth of interesting stories to tell, which urban history fans will be able to discover during the Friday urban walk day and the weekend of open houses.

Budapest100 2024 explores the diverse built heritage of the 1970s, looking at the potential future and the value of the houses built then. The decade was a diverse era of architectural pioneering, but its obscurity means that it has yet to take its rightful place in public thinking about architecture. The period is often perceived negatively and with bad preconceptions by the public, but at international level there are a growing number of projects dealing with the values of late modern architecture and heritage in the Central European region. Therefore, KÉK is organizing a series of programs related to this topic, including Budapest100.

The age of the celebrated buildings provides a special opportunity to share the personal stories of as many architects, designers, builders, residents and staff who were present at the birth of the buildings as possible, which can provide a very close perspective on these buildings and shape our collective thinking about the era.

During the more than six months of research and program organizing leading up to the event, we will be looking for answers to exciting questions such as:

• What kind of built environment did the inhabitants of the city live in in the 1970s? What remains of it today? What alternative solutions could have been used then?
• How can we examine late modern buildings in their historical context but without prejudice and treat them as heritage?
• In addition to the modernisation efforts, how did the professionals relate to the historical heritage? How has heritage protection evolved during this decade?
• How do we see contemporary answers and solutions to these questions and challenges in individual buildings or neighbourhoods?

2024. május 11-12-én bemutatjuk a korszak épületeit a lakótelepektől a szabadidőközpontokon át a korabeli kereskedelem ikonikus helyszíneiig. Egyúttal azt is feltérképezhetjük, hogyan változott egy-egy ház, utca, vagy környék, és hogyan alakul a sorsuk a bennük egykor és most élő közösségekkel együtt.