Program comes first, art and design only later

Following a design hotel on the Danube riverside, you have completed plans for a design residential park on Rózsadomb, the idea of which the developer is planning to take to the international stage. Is it possible that the world of dime-a-dozen uniform buildings is coming to an end, or can "design" as a catchword only work in the luxury category?

I think this is much more a question of consciousness and attitude, and not of money. The increasing ground being gained by the high-tech world, the constant race with time, the increasing dominance of machines all make the need for individuality stronger, the desire to have at least my own home reflect who I am, what my emotions, desires are. The question has to be posed who I am, and then form the given space to the answer. Both on the exterior and the interior.

So the keyword is individuality?

Something like that. These days, when there is a hundred of everything, there is no other way to stand out from the crowd than through individuality. This is a kind of communication. The design of the space reflects one's own attitude towards life, and this is what the program is built on. This is what the designer has to grasp, not alone, but in a team, because of its hundred different aspects. So the way I would put it is that this team approach to program creation is the keyword, which the developer has to recognise. But even if they don't, the international competition will force a change in attitudes anyway.

Is this how the concept of SevenArt's was born?

In addition to the premium location and the area's unique attributes, something was needed to make the project stand out from the residential parks that are being built en masse. This is how as a first step an architectural program was born, on which the design plans mixed with artistic elements could be built. In the spirit of this, the buildings were reinvented, with each of them proclaiming the beauty of a different element, such as glass, light, wood, plastic, textile or stone, and this exterior design reflected also in the interior spaces.