The primary challenge of any architectural design is to ask the right questions and then provide an appropriate answer to them in the design process. István Bényei, Sarolta Halmos and their colleagues found both the question and the answer in the design of the new community building of the University of Debrecen.
The University of Debrecen has been undergoing major changes and development in recent years. High quality teaching and buildings that increasingly serve students are attracting many young people, and the number of foreign students in particular has soared recently. In response to this, the university’s management has decided to help foreign students studying here by building a community building specifically for them.
The idea for the new building was born out of the realisation that students from all over the world find it difficult to connect with each other or with Hungarian students. Surveys have shown that students commute almost exclusively between their accommodation and the university halls, and that an important purpose of being a student is to make contacts. To address this, István Bényei and Sarolta Halmos, the interior designers and their collaborators, have envisioned spaces that encourage people to stay; and that foster community by serving small conversations for a few people and the comfort of larger groups. “We got involved relatively late in the project, but our initial concept was immediately understood and welcomed by the university administration”, says Bényei. ……