Foldes Architects | Kemenes Volcanopark Visitor Center

Though Hungary, located in Central Eastern Europe, is not rich in active volcanos, a large expanse of the country used to be volcanic some 5 million years ago. However, this does help ensure good quality soil for high level wine production, one of Hungary’s largest export products. The iconic Kemenes Volcanopark Visitor Center lays 200 km West of the capital Budapest, and has been realised following a national architectural contest announced in 2009 by the Celldomolk City Council, when Foldes Architects celebrated their winning entry from the competing 44 projects. The chosen plot for the center highlighted a flat area between the city of Celldomolk and the 5 million year old Sag Hill, a former volcano.

© Tamas Bujnovszky

© Tamas Bujnovszky

‘Instead of the straight translation of the brief, such as creating a volcano shaped museum building, we wanted to capture the true substance of the location. According to our concept, the raw materials, the homogeneous grey of the concrete, the lava inspired colour of the corten steel, and the flue-like arrangement of the space, deliver the spirit and essence of a volcano’, Laszlo Foldes, chief designer of Foldes Architects.

© Tamas Bujnovszky

© Tamas Bujnovszky

Upon entering the vast interior of the building, the visitor meets two engaging attractions. At first sight the vertically open space captures the eye. Five floors above, a small window lets in a beam of light offering the ‘eruption’ point on the flat roof. On the opposite side, the industrial materials of the façade appear consistent with the interior: naked concrete walls, dark grey rasin flooring, steel staircase and corridor, and the corten steel cubes also visible from the outside. The varied height and location of bridges link the different sizes and positions of the corten boxes. These offer a range of functions, from screening rooms to interactive installations area, and present the fascinating history and typology of volcanos. To create a more refined interior, the exhibition texts are situated directly on the wall without any supporting board.

© Tamas Bujnovszky

If you ever wanted to imagine walking through a cubist painting, this building is a great example of how it might feel to wander into Picasso’s Guernica. While passing below the red cubes, grey walls and bridges of the building, you have a real opportunity to comprehend the transience and vulnerability of human existence bracketed by such a formidable force of nature.

© Tamas Bujnovszky

© Tamas Bujnovszky

In short about the architect

Laszlo Foldes after graduating as an architect at the Budapest University of Technology joined Jarvinen & Airas studio, Helsinki. A few years after returning to Hungary he founded Foldes Architects in 1994 where he shares the work with 10 young architects. The office won two Pro Architectura awards and an Ybl award, besides being invited to exhibit at architecture events of RIBA/London, Lighthouse/Glasgow, Piran days of architecture/Slovenia, Tranzit 15/Leiden, DAZ/Berlin, Kunsthalle/Budapest. Projects of Foldes Architects are both residential (dwelling houses, apartment houses) and public buildings (health centres, churches, museums, schools). Their projects’ identification lays in the use of natural and local materials (stone, brick, wood) and the belief in architectural continuity, however they are opened to new ideas. First time in history they built in “LiTraCon” (light transmitting concrete), Áron Losonczi’s invention which received several awards.