Budapest, 2013
Architecture: Zoltán Füzesséry Ybl Prize laureate architect, Katalin Csiha, János Bordi – Aula Architects Kft.
Interior design: Béla Tildi – DT Studio Kft.
The building was completed in 2000 filling an empty plot, functioning as office building. The economic crisis of 2008 badly affected the enterprise operating it, which then wanted to address a new stratum of potential renters. One possible direction was introducing an OPEN OFFICE type utilization for startups and emerging enterprises, in the scope of which one can rent as little as a single desk while taking advantage of a full background service (secretary, internet, photocopy, printing, etc.) The change also affected the reception service: the information desk staff had to be increased to four personnel.
Our client wanted to indicate the change in their clientele by transforming the common areas, so in 2013 we were commissioned to reconstruct the Rákóczi Road main entrance of the office building. During the interior design planning phase we endeavoured to represent the types of users to whom the computerized digital environment is a natural and essential part of daily life.
Out of the drafts offering different options, the team comprising the operator, the architect and the interior designer opted for the construction of a LED wall that would refer to the world of displays and pixels.
The pattern of LEDs in a discontinuous raster evokes the essence of semiconductors and the “yes-no” structure of computer science, which is based on the binary numeral system. The LED wall also contributes to lighting the inner parts of the interior which are unfavourably lit due to the depth of the building.
Photography: Béla Tildi
