The architectural oeuvre of Péter Vesmás is almost entirely bound to his hometown, Szeged, and to the wider region of the Southern Great Plain. Within contemporary Hungarian architecture, it is rare for a versatile creator to devote such sustained energy – and to do so simultaneously across several professional fields – to the service of a relatively compact region.
His career was fundamentally shaped by the intellectual influence of his masters: at university, Jenő Szendrői, who supervised his diploma project; at the Master School, Antal Plesz; and finally Béla Borvendég, also a native of Szeged, head of studio at the Szeged-based design office DÉLTERV (DÉLTERV Design Office). Borvendég recognised in the young colleague the promise of continuity: a talent committed to high quality and endowed with exceptional sensitivity to context. He helped to smooth his path – much as Vesmás himself would do a little later for his own students and younger architectural colleagues. Borvendég’s support proved to be a strong letter of recommendation; after obtaining his degree, Vesmás returned home in order to practise architecture in Szeged. At the DÉLTERV studio, he was soon entrusted with a significant independent commission: the design of the extension and transformation of the office’s own headquarters. The company, employing some 600 staff, consolidated workshops that had previously been dispersed across several locations into this building. Following the dissolution of the state-owned enterprise, the building has continued to function as a rental office block. For the design of this office building, Péter Vesmás received a quality award in 1994.
After his period at DÉLTERV, he spent some time as a demonstrator at the Master School. In 1990, together with his design partners – including Ildikó V. Zákányi and György Sipos – he founded an independent practice under the name Tér és Forma. The choice of name was an explicit gesture towards Hungarian modern architecture: it was borrowed from the title of the architectural and interior design journal Tér és Forma, published between 1928 and 1948, which had served as the principal forum of Hungarian modernism.
Alongside his architectural work at the Tér és Forma studio, Vesmás’s interest increasingly turned towards design, and in particular towards Danish furniture design. In the relationship between product design and architecture, he recognised opportunities that prompted him to complete the programme in art and design theory at the Magyar Iparművészeti Főiskola (Hungarian College of Applied Arts, the predecessor of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design) between 1994 and 1997. From the early 2000s onwards, the emphasis on carefully crafted detail, the conscious selection of materials, and the distilled approach of Danish design emerged as distinctive characteristics of Vesmás’s architectural work.
Another defining feature of his architecture is the harmonious integration of heritage contexts with contemporary architectural elements. The historic city centre of Szeged offered numerous opportunities for such tasks, and Vesmás made judicious use of them. In 1991, together with his design partners, he initiated the restoration of the medieval church in Szeged-Alsóváros, along with the adjoining monastery; the work was later continued by the staff of ÁMRK. In 2000, the reconstruction of the Szeged Fortress took place, followed a few years later by the restoration and modernisation of the listed building of the Court of Appeal Chief Prosecutor’s Office, as well as the extension of the Tornyai János Museum in Hódmezővásárhely – the latter earning enthusiastic acclaim from both the profession and the wider public.
Through these commissions, Vesmás became increasingly engaged with landscape design, urban rehabilitation, and the functional and aesthetic renewal of public spaces. Since 2005, he has been continuously involved in the transformation plans of one district or another in Szeged. In parallel, the theme of reorganising and revitalising the Tisza riverbank in Szeged – shaping it into a liveable environment and strengthening the city’s relationship with the river – came to the fore, and in recent years has come to define Vesmás’s entire professional activity. Through the development of long-term concepts and public lectures, he has drawn attention to the significance of a waterside way of life. It was in this spirit that his unique innovation, the prototype of the Noé residential boat, realised in 2013, was created – a project through which Vesmás elaborated a cost-effective and sustainable model for waterside living. The defining features of his architecture become apparent through a review of some of his most important works.
Rekonstrukció a Szegedi várban (Reconstruction of the Szeged Fortress), Szeged, 2000
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, György Sipos, Klára Sz. Elekes
The Szeged Fortress was built in the twelfth century on the foundations of a former Roman guard post, serving as a royal stronghold supervising the crossing of the River Tisza and the transport of salt shipments arriving from Transylvania. It was the largest medieval fortification of the Great Hungarian Plain. From the reign of Joseph II, it was used as a prison; later, the devastating flood of 1879, which destroyed much of the city of Szeged, severely weakened its massive walls. In the years that followed, the fortress was practically dismantled, and its building materials were reused for the reconstruction of the city. During the reconstruction, the remains were preserved and unified through a continuous protective covering, while on the western façade the Maria Theresa Gate was rebuilt. Through these interventions, the fortress was endowed with new functions: its roof spaces were converted into archaeological storage areas, while new museum spaces were created within the thickened gate structure and the Baroque-era casemate sequence. The new façade elements are joined to the surviving wall sections in a visually striking manner; their timber cladding accentuates the material character of the original brick and stone walls. A particular highlight of the interior is the circular panoramic lecture hall, from which the original brick vault can be seen from above – and even touched – offering a direct, tactile encounter with the historic structure.
Reconstruction of the Tisza Riverbank, 2004–
The great flood of the River Tisza in 1879 led to the destruction of the old city of Szeged. To this day, the city’s relationship with the river has remained unresolved and inharmonious. For more than a decade, Péter Vesmás has been working on the reconstruction of the Szeged stretch of the Tisza riverbank, aiming to liberate the river from its concrete bed and to reintegrate the riverbanks into the city’s communal life. At the same time – as another major flood in 2006 once again made clear – the transformation and raising of the inner-city flood protection system is unavoidable. In Vesmás’s concept, the concrete parapet constructed in the 1970s would be replaced by a contemporary mobile flood barrier, which would separate the city from the river only during periods of flooding. This would allow the riverbank to become a promenade: a carefully designed, visually coherent, and pleasant riverside zone, primarily serving the needs of pedestrians, and effectively functioning as Szeged’s new “main street”. In place of the existing river wall, the ornamental wrought-iron railing could be reinstated, accompanied by a paved promenade; floating boathouses with basket-like structures would be moored on the Tisza; cafés and beer gardens would extend in terraced form along the stepped embankment; and the construction of a water bastion would complete the ensemble. Between the two banks and along the course of the Tisza, small boats would transport passengers – as today, despite its riverside setting, Szeged has no passenger boat services at all.
Rehabilitation of Várkert, Stefánia Park, Móra Park, and Roosevelt Square, Szeged, 2005–2011
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, Gergely Egedi, Rómeó Fontos, Anna Simó
Following the reconstruction of the fortress, Péter Vesmás worked continuously on the creation of multifunctional community spaces linking the fortress with the Móra Ferenc Museum. The concept also incorporated the reconstruction of the riverside promenade along the Tisza and the activation of the riverbank as a lived urban space. Once the embankment walls had been reinforced, Roosevelt Square could, according to the plan, open directly towards the Tisza. Within Móra Park, Vesmás designed a fountain, a water surface suitable for ice skating in winter, and a flexible event space. As part of the overall redevelopment, the remains of the Saint Elizabeth Church, uncovered in front of the fortress, would become accessible to the public. Sunken exhibition spaces would connect the fortress to the Móra Ferenc Museum, and a castle garden would also form an integral part of the complex.
Szeged Court of Appeal Chief Prosecutor’s Office, listed building reconstruction, 2006
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, György Sipos, Anna Simó, Gergely Egedi, Rómeó Fontos
The Szeged Chief Prosecutor’s Office found its new home in the listed building of the former Úri Kaszinó (Gentlemen’s Casino), constructed in 1891, following decades of deterioration and ad hoc alterations. After comprehensive monument restoration, the building was adapted to its new function: offices were created on the ground and upper floors, while the former grand hall was converted into a council chamber. Alongside the restored original interior decorations – gilded stuccowork and coffered parquet flooring – new frescoes were added. During the course of construction works, the northern, circular corner bastion of the Szeged Fortress was unexpectedly brought to light in the basement. The street façade was restored to its original appearance. Through the landscaping of the courtyard and the repetition of the façade’s brick material within the paving, the building acquired a villa-like atmosphere.
Mars Square Municipal Market, Szeged, 2011
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, György Sipos, Anna Simó, Gergely Egedi, Rómeó Fontos, Jenő Balla
The Mars Square market is Szeged’s most important centre for food supply. Previously, it consisted of a disordered array of stalls that occupied one of the city’s largest public squares. The comprehensive development carried out between 2005 and 2010 created a high-quality commercial and service centre – a genuine urban agora: a transparent, comfortable, and well-organised “covered street”, a community space animated by snack bars, cafés, and shops. The covered market hall, articulated into a “main nave” and lateral spaces, presents a brick façade worthy of a public building, while its tent-like roof of galvanised zinc sheet, punctuated by skylights, conveys a sense of dignity. Inside, the dynamic expressiveness of the curved laminated timber beams generates a vibrant spatial experience. Adjacent to the hall, open-air market tables for local producers are sheltered by colourful canopy roofs. On the upper level of the hall, a green roof and a paved roof terrace help to break down the mass of the block.
Extension and Reconstruction of the Tornyai János Museum, Hódmezővásárhely, 2012
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, György Sipos, Anna Simó, Gergely Egedi, Rómeó Fontos, Bence Góg, Zoltán Priskin, Márton Varga
The extension of the Tornyai János Museum, formerly consisting of two separate buildings, through the addition of a new entrance building made it possible to separate the three museum functions – exhibition, operation, and storage – into independent blocks. The basement of the entrance building accommodates a visible storage area; the ground floor houses an event hall; and the upper floor contains exhibition spaces, alongside a specialist library, a bookshop, and facilities for museum education.
The two existing buildings now host the permanent exhibitions, while offices for administration and researchers were arranged around the covered courtyard. At the corner of the complex, a new building, entirely closed towards the exterior, fulfils the storage function; its arcaded ground floor opens towards the street with restoration workshops. As a result of the transformation, the museum’s floor area was doubled, and it gained an atmospheric museum garden with direct access from the street. The restrained formal language of the extension is calibrated in scale to the existing building volumes, yet it speaks in a different architectural idiom with a distinctly contemporary character.
Design and Construction of the Noé Residential Boat (Noah Houseboat), within an innovation development programme, 2010–2013
Co-designers: Ildikó Zákányi, Rómeó Fontos
Boat houses have a long tradition along the River Tisza, particularly on the Szeged riverbank, where simply constructed houseboats can still be seen today along the inner-city stretch. Péter Vesmás’s development is a residential boat suitable for serial production, offering a high level of comfort, enabling a sustainable lifestyle, and conceived with a contemporary design approach. Completed in 2013, the Noé residential boat integrates harmoniously into its surroundings. Its operation is energy-efficient; electricity is supplied by solar panels, making it energetically self-sufficient. According to Vesmás’s concept, environmentally conscious residential boats can also help ensure that construction in floodplain areas does not damage the natural environment. Noé was built by the staff of the Tér és Forma studio themselves. A lightweight structure was erected on a concrete floating platform, with a steel load-bearing system and thermally insulated enclosure walls. Its external cladding is larch timber, though other materials may also be used.
The realised residential boat is a single-storey structure with a flat roof designed as a roof terrace. Its usable floor area is 50 m², its length is 10 metres, and it is not self-propelled. It promotes sustainability, eco-efficiency, and environmental awareness; it is extremely cost-effective and fully exploits the advantages of a waterside location. In 2015, the Noé residential boat was awarded the Highlights of Hungary prize.
Péter Vesmás is a versatile creator. Alongside decades of teaching and architectural design practice, he is engaged in environmental rehabilitation, design, and urban development. He is helping to build twenty-first-century Szeged – the city where, according to one of his masters, Antal Plesz, the work of Vesmás and his colleagues “stands up to comparison at national, regional, and Budapest levels alike, in terms of professional rigour and architectural culture.”
[2016]