12_walls

12 walls

In Veszprém, a historic medieval town in western Hungary, 12 designers have coated walls of an aging school to illustrate the significance of architectural ornamentation and what it means for and to young architects today.

The Elementary School of Music (formerly the Industrial School) was designed by Hungarian architect Lajos Schoditsch, a building which sits across the street from the Petőfi Theater, designed by another Hungarian, István Medgyaszay. Both buildings are integral to the city’s architectural history and represent the changing use of motif and ornament in Hungarian architecture. Both are also scheduled to be renovated, with the now-vacant Elementary School of Music due to become an office building serving the theater.

Seizing the moment before the renovation, the Hungarian practice Paradigma Ariadné, led by Dávid Smiló, Attila Róbert Csóka, and Szabolcs Molnár, saw the chance for architectural intervention. Working with Heléna Csóka, the curators of the 12 Walls project invited designers from across Europe to come up with wall installations that riffed on the history of ornament embedded in the former school. The result is a series of painted walls vying for visual attention in a cacophony of color and ornamentation. Each wall has its own agenda, courtesy of the 12 designers. The walls serve as standalone works but end up interacting with adjacent and nearby painted walls to create a dazzling landscape inside the vacant building.

Participants: Architecture Uncomfortable Workshop, Enorme Studio, False Mirror Office, Levente Gyulai, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Andrew Kovacs, MNPL Workshop, Giacomo Pala, Space Popular, TREES, Very Good Office

This publication is an exhibition catalogue, which was titled Living Line and organized in 2017 in the Highlander stronghold of contemporary art, at the Contemporary Hungarian Gallery in the Vermes Villa, Dunaszerdahely. This comprehensive work was made in particular for the display presenting the artworks of the academic staff teaching and working at the Specialization of Graphic Arts of the Graphics Department, Hungarian University of Fine Arts.

Natúr is an independent print magazine filled with stories of natural wine, honest food, bars, coffee, soil, dirt, work, sweat, community, beautiful nature, and more. It is focusing on the lesser-known parts of Central and Eastern Europe. The first edition is focusing on Hungary, its natural wine community, bakers,  peculiar spots for coffee and great natural food experience.

Client: Paradigma Ariadné, Veszprém-Balaton 2023 share company

Curators: Heléna Csóka, Dávid Smiló, Attila Róbert Csóka, Szabolcs Molnár

Date: 2018

Location: Veszprém, Hungary 

Production: Neopaint

Photo: Balázs Danyi

Scope: Exhibition design

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Opening speech by Dániel Kovács

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Enorme Studio

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Paradigma Ariadné

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Andrew Kovács

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Very Good Office

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False Mirror Office

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Levente Gyulai

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Giacomo Pala

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AU Workshop

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TRESS

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MNPL Workshop

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Adam Nathaniel Furman

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Space Popular

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(C) Kazsik 2020