The metro in Budapest is the oldest in all of continental Europe: it opened in 1896, and the next oldest, Parisian, in 1900. By the end of the 20th century, there were 3 lines, and in the 1980s it was decided to build a fourth, but the project never took place brought to the end.
It was tackled again in the mid-2000s, and the M4 line became the largest new infrastructure facility in Budapest in decades. The first stage of M4, which opened in the outgoing year, includes 10 stations on a section of 7.34 km. A particular difficulty was that the foundation of the project was laid back in the 1980s and 90s, according to the views and situation of the 1970s - 80s, so it had to be coordinated with the needs and expectations of passengers of the 21st century.
The spora architects bureau, dealing with the stations "St. Gellert ter" and "Feuvam ter" assigned to it, got out of the situation by focusing on an effective architectural solution that could create a modern public space from a transport object, which cannot be found on the surface of the earth - in a traditional Budapest, the city of eclecticism and romanticism. An interesting project, according to its authors, is capable of attracting people to the metro, prompting them to use public transport, and so will help solve this problem, which is more than relevant for any large city.
Spacious, comparable in width to the streets of 19th century Pest, the stations are filled from above with a 3-tiered frame - an organic network of concrete beams, which architects compare to bone tissue - denser where it is subject to more pressure. Inspiration also comes from Piranesi's Prisons and the work of Budapest-born Yona Friedman. The irregular shape of this concrete "extravaganza" allowed the authors to bring it from the stage of conception to implementation without any compromise.
At the Fevam ter station, sunlight from crystalline "lanterns" located at ground level enters the underground space through this grid. This station is, in fact, a large interchange hub that unites the metro with tram lines (including a new tunnel for them) and buses, river transport, and a pedestrian underpass.
"St. Gellert ter" serves as the gateway to the ancient center of Budapest; its platform lies at a depth of 36 m due to the development at the top and the proximity of the Danube: this is the deepest station M4. A key role in the design of the station is played by the mosaics used in Feuvam ter, a reference to the nearby historic hotel and baths Gellért, where the interiors are decorated with mosaics from the famous Zsolnay factory.
