Debrecen has many unique and even award-winning buildings appreciated locally. Now, three buildings in Debrecen have finally been recognised more widely and included in the list ”30 best Hungarian buildings”, compiled by the editors of the Index and the Architects’ Forum. Debrecen is the only one from the rural settlements with three buildings on the list. See the three listed buildings below:
St. George Church, a Meeting of Ancient and Modern times
The most modern building on the list is the St. George Church built-in 2015 (picture above). The church had already been awarded the Pro Architectura Award and the Media Architecture Award. It is covered by almost 100,000 pieces of unique hand-made bricks made in Italy over 1,600 square meters. One of the peculiarities of the building, which is reminiscent of medieval stone temples, is that its roof was not covered with tiles, but made of small solid bricks.
Nagyerdei Stadium – Open, Clean and Dynamic
The Nagyerdei Stadium (Great Forest Stadium) was designed by the Bord Architect Studio. The Studio wanted to create a futuristic stadium that was connected to a human-scale city like Debrecen and be reconciled with the extraordinary values and potentials of the landscape. The Nagyerdei Stadium became an open, clear, dynamic and flexible building with the intention of focusing on the direct experience of a live game.
Agora, Science and Adventure Center in the middle of the Forest
Agora, the Science and Adventure Center in Debrecen, opened in 2014. The Science and Adventure Center is located in the Botanical Garden of the University of Debrecen, designed by two local architects, Péter Kovács and István Lengyel. According to the architects, six fields of science – astronomy, physics-robotics, chemistry, botany, biomedical biology and hydrobiology – had to have a place in the Agora, plus they had to include as many green places as possible to protect the botanical aspect, to be in line with nature.
Walking through the trees and along a raised nature trail, once the forest opens up and you can walk into a building on a bridge over a lake. Only the central element of the building rises above the trees to enable to operate the observatory on top.
