A record number of almost 80 buildings and community gardens will open their doors on 24–25 May during the Open Houses Weekend (Nyitott Házak Hétvégéje), organised by the Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK).
This year, the residents of 42 buildings, the staff of 19 institutions and the caretakers of 16 gardens are taking part in the programme. The list of participating buildings and gardens has already been published and is available on budapest100.hu.
This year the Budapest100 festival focuses on the green spaces of residential buildings, workplaces, community spaces and gardens. As the programme does not concentrate on a specific period this year, buildings of many different ages were able to apply, and the diversity of the city’s green spaces can also be showcased. Among the participating buildings, visitors will find a city-centre apartment building, the front garden of a housing estate, a university hall of residence, a cultural institution, a hospice and numerous community gardens.
With this year’s theme, the organisers wish to draw attention to what the city’s green oases give its residents, and what residents can do for these oases in return. Urban green spaces play an important role in improving air quality, mitigating the formation and negative effects of urban heat islands, and preserving the diversity of the plant, animal and insect life found there. These effects add up, so in addition to large public parks, the smaller and larger gardens enclosed by buildings and tended by their residents also significantly shape the well-being of the city and its inhabitants.
The free four-day programme begins on 22 May with a professional day. Its aim is to map out different approaches to urban nature, visions of it and research directions on it from the perspectives of culture, philosophy, urban planning and ecology. The programme continues on 23 May with the Budapest Tree Festival (Budapest Fafesztivál), which celebrates the city’s trees with two dozen themed walks, and concludes on 24 and 25 May with the Open Houses Weekend.
The full, detailed programme is expected to be published on 8 May on the Budapest100 website. Registration for the walks and some of the events opens the same day on the Budapest100 website, but most Open Houses Weekend events can be visited without registration. The organisers are asking the community for support to cover the missing part of this year’s festival budget. Donations are welcome through a fundraising campaign on adjukossze.hu.
Source: MTI