The results of the Ferencváros Nagyvásártelep and its surroundings international architectural design competition as part of the Budapest Diákváros project have been announced. The design competition was international, but mainly Hungarian architects were expected to enter. 

Eventually, 23 tenders were submitted. The third prize went to the joint work of Studio Egret West Ltd. and Robert Gutowski Architects Kft. The submission by Deichler Jakab Építész Stúdió Kft. came second, and the first prize was awarded to the plans by BIVAK studio Kft.

According to the tender, one of the tasks the designers had to solve was remodelling the huge hall, which has stood empty for decades. However, the building is a listed historical monument. If the ideas of the winning BIVAK studio are realized, the approximately 10,000-square-meter building will be used to house sports halls, event centres, a café, a club and a pub on three levels as part of the student city.

The planned interior (Source: BIVAK studio Kft.)

In addition to the hall, the winner also had to design the first dormitory of the future Student City and a six-storey office building with a canteen on the ground floor.

The future canteen will be located at the bottom of the building (Source: BIVAK studio)

Render of the future office building (Source: BIVAK studio)

In the late 1920s, the leadership of the capital decided that a new, larger-than-ever food supply centre should be established to meet the growing city's needs. The new centre's location was designated in the area between the Public Slaughterhouse and the Ferencváros river port. The Nagyvásártelep, designed by Aladár Münnich, was built between 1930 and 1932.

The office building of Nagyvásártelep after its completion in 1932 (Photo: FSZEK Budapest Collection)

The two central buildings of Nagyvásártelep were the hall and the office building. Fresh food was transported to the 247-meter-long, 42-meter-wide, 17-meter-high hall by boat, train and truck. A refrigerator and heating rooms can be found under the hall. The hall was connected to the Art Deco office building by a small bridge, which housed a post office, police, customs, a boiler room and merchants' offices. Nagyvásártelep was once the logistics centre of the capital's food supply. In its heyday, it was served by 20 railway tracks and two river ports, and 400 wholesalers worked in its hall on more than ten thousand square meters.

The central building of Nagyvásártelep on 27 April 2021 (Photo: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák)

After the Second World War, Nagyvásártelep was also nationalized, due to which a prolonged decline began. Following the fall of socialism, the process was accelerated when the wholesale market opened, leading Nagyvásártelep to close. The two central buildings (the office building and the hall) were declared historical monuments in 2004.

Nagyvásártelep has seen better days (Photo: Balázs Both/pestbuda.hu)

But as they stand empty, their condition has deteriorated rapidly. Many of the hall’s windows have been broken or are missing. The walls are tainted with graffiti, the doors and windows of the office building have disappeared, the area has become neglected, but the current remodelling could save the building from total destruction. 

Cover photo: Budapest Diákváros - Nagyvásártelep and its surroundings competition winner, render (Source: BIVAK studio Kft.)