Seating areas – HUPLI furniture family
Slope benches and Grill
HUPLI furniture is a solution for the public use of sloping waterfront dyke structures. The stepped embankments are well suited as seating areas and provide an opportunity to spend time there, but the 25-35 degree sloped flood protection structure made of stone makes it difficult to use the area. In the capital and around the world, there are many such sloping waterfronts that are not suitable for spending time at, and the HUPLI furniture family, jointly developed by Valyo and VPI Beton, provides them with a new function, applying the principle of minimal intervention. Flood-resistant furniture made of concrete with variable inclination angles and colors offers the opportunity to reposition monotonous, depressing flood structures as public spaces, making them personal and lovable.
The development of HUPLI furniture was commissioned by the Budapest Municipality, using the 2020 community budget of the city. The idea was voted on by the people of Budapest, so the design work could start in 2023 after a long preparation. The prototype of the furniture family was created at the CONCRETE WORKSHOP organized at Budapest University of Technology and Economics in 2016 in cooperation with S39 and Valyo – City and River Association, where the concrete seating surfaces with the imaginative name Ficcenések for the Gellért Square effluent were created by Hupli furniture designers Dávid Kornai-Varga and Mihály Márk Nagy. After the design and preparation phase, the permitting and production process began, and then the elements were finally placed in their final position in the summer of 2024.
The locations for the implementation were selected in consultation with the Municipality and the NGOs of Embankment Working Group. We looked for areas that bring underused parts into play, but are also easily accessible. The southern tip of Margaret Island is a spectacular area that provides an opportunity to admire the beauties of the city, so furniture matching the color of Margaret Bridge was placed here. The more natural, greener environment of the furniture placed on Vizafogó, next to a pebble beach, provides a new opportunity to use the Danube bank, here we chose a reddish marble color scheme reminiscent of the Tardos limestone often used on buildings in Budapest. The furniture is complemented by a public grill at both locations, and on Margaret Island a staircase was built based on the HUPLI model, which helps to get down the slope.
Project manager: Miklós Tömör
Designers: Dávid Kornai-Varga, Mihály Márk Nagy
Permits: Balázs Psenák
Production: VPI Beton
Implementation and management: Valyo – Város és Folyó Egyesület (City and River Association)
Financed by: Municipality of Budapest Főváros community budget
Budget: 13,6m HUF
Thanks to:
Ákos and his team, Anna Baróthy, Benedek Egressy, Gábor Góbi, Zoli Hering, Janó, Vincze Fuvar, every voter of the community budget and every helper in the process
