It is not easy to keep track of how many significant heritage protected public buildings have been renovated in Budapest since 2010, which were nearly ruined due to the negligence of previous decades.

Let us just think of the renovation of the Neo-Renaissance Castle Garden, built between 1875 and 1883 based on the plans of Miklós Ybl, which is under World Heritage protection, yet for 16 years, since 1996, it has been one of the 100 most endangered monuments in the world. Or think of the classicist historical main building of Ludovika designed by Mihály Pollack in 1830, the Tomb of Gül Baba forming a unique building complex together with the Wágner villa around it, the Academy of Music which is acknowledged as one of the most original Art Nouveau buildings in the world, the Pesti Vigadó, or even the Eiffel Art Studios, the new art centre of the Opera House in close proximity of People’s Park, which was built by the Eiffel office based on the plans of János Feketeházy. And, of course, let us not forget - as a sad curiosity - the Romanian Hall in the Museum of Fine Arts, which was closed until today, for 70 years, after the destruction of World War II, but reopened in its full glory two years ago.

Based on these successes, I think it is clear that the Government of Hungary is committed to heritage protection.

Fitting into the impressive listing, now, another unique building on the verge of destruction can be renovated and given a new function that could serve as an inspiration for the designers of the surrounding new neighborhood, which is hopefully to be realized in the not too distant future.

Keeping the ‘preserving by renewing’ concept in mind, the Budapest Development Agency is announcing an open, international architectural design competition entitled ‘Budapest Student City – Big Market Hall and its surroundings’. The aim of the design competition is the renewal and renovation of the heritage protected Big Market Hall building complex, defining new functions of it, as well as the selection of the designer of the first student housing building to be built on the site, based on the best design chosen by the evaluation jury.

The main subject of the design competition is the market hall building and the adjacent office building of the Big Market Hall, which operated on a large area bordered by Kvassay Jenő út - Kelebia railway line – Soroksári Danube branch, an outstanding building complex of modern Hungarian architecture. The construction of the buildings, built in 1930-1932 on the basis of the architectural plans of Aladár Münnich and the static-reinforced concrete structural plans of Vilmos Obrist, was one of the largest architectural developments in the capital of Budapest between the two world wars. The particularly large hall building, with 234 meters long and 42 meters wide floor space and an internal height of 17 meters, was the largest indoor hall of Hungary for a long time. By the mid-1920s, the Central Market Hall proved insufficient to carry out the food wholesale in the capital, so the Big Market Hall was established to replace its role. Following the Second World War, the site was taken into state ownership, and the old buildings were almost completely demolished. The remaining buildings were terribly ignored in the following years. The Big Market Hall building complex received temporary protection on June 28, 2001, but by the time the ministerial decree was issued in 2004, even the office building was out of use.

Over the past ten years, the attention of the world's leading architectural firms has been focused on Budapest to an extent not seen since the Millennium, due to the prestigious and transparent design competitions through which the designers of the major public developments were selected.

Let us just think of the architects of the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design or the new South Danube (Galvani) bridge, the buildings of the new Museum of Ethnography or the House of Hungarian Music, the National Gallery, the new home of the Museum of Transport, or the designers of the South Gate Masterplan, featuring the Big Market Hall in the heart of the area, and the design competitions through which they were selected.

The development of the city of Budapest is clearly visible even from abroad. It is indicated by the fact that such renowned and well-known foreign architects (including two Pritzker Prize winners!) participated at and won the design competitions of the last decade, like Snøhetta, SAANA, Sou Fujimoto, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, or Ben Van Berkel and Buro Happold, not to mention the famous design studios working for private developers, like Foster + Partners design firm. Such acknowledged designers, the world's leading architects, have not been creating in Budapest for 130 years, since the Millennium. At the same time, it is a pleasure to see that completing this list of foreign designers, Hungarian architects are also selected as winners of design competitions. The exceptional architectural standard of MOME or the new Museum of Ethnography are only a few examples.

I am confident that - similarly to our design competitions so far - this one will also gain outstanding interest of the architectural profession, this time, especially of the Hungarian architects. And finally, that the winning design - in terms of its quality - will come up to the designs mentioned above and buildings that have been implemented in the last decade or are still under construction, enriching Budapest with a new unique element.