FORFA Art Colony

Within my thesis I explored the village of Zebegény, a settlement of Swabian origin located at the Danube Bend in North Hungary. The study examines the structural, architectural and morphological characteristics of the village and seeks answers to the architectural and townscape relations between tradition and modernity. What is the appropriate architectural behaviour In the fabric of a traditional rural environment? Is there a need for adaptation and if so, how and to what extent?

The study focuses on an empty school building (’forfa’ school) in the heart of the village, which is an imprint of the socialist construction methods of the 1970s. The building's impact on the urban fabric and its unusual architectural appearance raise a number of questions, and is an example of an era that did not focus on environmental sensitivity, but on efficient and rapid problem-solving, creating simple, cheap and typable systems. These buildings are a common problem today with their outdated design, obsolete structure and questionable appearance.

Because of my personal attachment to the village, I have been interested in the story and future of this neglected flat-roofed school for years now, as it marks the biggest morphological wound of the settlement. Within my Master Graduation Project my main aim was to revitalise the site and area of the ‘forfa’ building and bring it back into the life of the village. 

The program of my project was based on the cultural roots of Zebegény. The neighbouring Szőnyi Memorial Museum and the Summer School of Fine Arts in the Szőnyi Garden established the idea of a more permanent Art Colony located on the 'forfa' site. My project thus connects to the summer camp and the Szőnyi Museum with a program that complements them.

Although it was not my intention to demolish the existing building, its structural conditions, inhospitable appearance and inconvenient design eventually led to the proposed demolition of the wooden part of it and retained the brick boiler house with the chimney, in which the ceramics workshop took place. In continuation of this, I placed the central building of the Colony; the art house that is situated along the stream with flexible creative spaces and various common areas. The barn-like building opens onto the central courtyard of the site with a covered porch.

The other side of the courtyard is bordered by a building leading off Szőnyi street. The building, which spans a difference in level of 6 metres, is approached from street level by a bridge that is continued in a long one-armed staircase providing a new pedestrian access to the Colony. This building serves all the public functions, with an exhibition space at street level and a café accessible from courtyard level. The accommodation building frames the project on the northern part of the site, creating a more private rear garden area with a firepit and an outdoor kitchen. The small single-storey building has residency rooms opening from the porch with windows and access to the rear garden. Group accommodation for children is possible in the roof space of the building.