This is what the Hymn Memorial in Satu Mare will look like

In February 2025, Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium announced a national open architectural design competition Szatmárcseke - Anthem Memorial Site with a total prize of HUF 35 million. According to the call for entries, the main objective of the competition is to design the Ferenc Kölcsey Hymn Memorial, i.e. to create and shape it in such a way that Hungary will be enriched with a worthy memorial to the Hymn. Szatmárcseke is situated in the north-eastern corner of the country, in the border region, and is the ancestral estate of the Kölcsey family, where the poet worked for several decades (including the writing of the hymn).

In summary, the new complex cultural institution will have three main functions: the

• Beyond the Kölcsey Ferenc Memorial Exhibition
• the new building will house the community cultural centre and library services, as well as the village's events, as part of the municipality's mandatory cultural tasks,
• and also serves as a tourist and visitor centre.

In addition, it was expected that the site would be designated as a national memorial site, and that it would provide a dignified outdoor space for national commemorations.

Thirty-six plans chosen from

Now, after the State Secretary for the Treasury, Regő Lánszki, Chief Architect of Hungary announced the results this morning, hely.hu has published the first three winners and the ranking of the purchased entries. According to the website, 36 architectural firms submitted their work for the competition, and the submitted designs were evaluated by a prestigious professional jury. The jury was chaired by Regő Lánszki and co-chaired by Lóránt Perényi, Deputy State Secretary, but Zoltán Csoma, Mayor of Szatmárcseke, also participated in the jury's work as a representative of the local community.

At the event held in the MOM Cultural Centre's dome hall, Regő Lánszki said in his speech that the aim was "to ensure that the memorial site would both respect tradition and reflect the achievements of future construction: a contemporary architectural work that preserves the memory of Kölcsey's former home with dignified authenticity, while at the same time blending harmoniously into the environment with its modern, energy-efficient, clean design."

The first prize was awarded to Gergő Turi (Triskell Épülettervező Kft.). The work is presented in the words of the jury.

Good sense of proportion, large-scale reporting

"Like the hymn, it is a prayer, and as such, its author, as a nation, addresses his words to God, but he cannot speak otherwise than in a human voice, with a recognition of the limitations of human consciousness, a little stammering, but with the greatest possible artistry, sometimes with a look raised to the sky, sometimes with awe at its imperfection, sometimes with a silence, sometimes with a definite and peculiar feeling, there is also in the 17th entry a certain uncertainty, an overthought in places, but still; it is precisely through the refinement of its details, its simple but definite composition, its mass radiating universality, that it rises above the other pieces within the limits of proportionality. It creates quality."

"The designer has responded with a good sense of proportion to the architectural challenges of a building that conveys a large-scale meaning in a small town, and the principle of integration based on the traditions of the Hungarian Architecture Act and contemporary knowledge is most strongly reflected in this entry"

- says the citation.

A total of eight entries were highlighted

Second prize went to Tamás Emődi-Kis, and third place to Gergely Sztranyák and Veronika Sztranyák (SZTR stúdió) and Dániel Varga.

Featured The work of Máté Trabak and Zoltán Trabak, and also purchased

• a Puhl és Dajka Építész Iroda,
• Attila Kristóf Juhász, Bernadett Kókai, Gergely Lapis Kardeván,
• a NAPUR Architect,
• and RJZS Architects.

Readers can view the above applications here.