Gödör Club

The construction of the National Theater's new building began in 1998 on the eastern side of Erzsébet square, a place that had served as a parking lot since the WWII. Ferenc Bán won the tender for designing the new establishment the year before. Yet the construction was halted soon, after the elections in '98, and a new purpose was sought for the completed underground structures and foundations. The new competition held for designing a cultural center was won by Firka Studio. On the surface, a public square with a contemporary park were created, while a representative stairway leads to the submerged agora from Deák square. A pleasant promenade was built beside the old bus station, which is a listed monument; the glazed cubic boxes standing here also lead to the premises underneath. Some of the cultural and commercial areas, like the foyer illuminated through the pool's tempered glass-slab bottom, were only partly completed. With its diverse materials, multifunctional surfaces and rich vegetation, the park soon became popular with its public consisting mainly of young people, making it a very busy place every day.