Anastasia Chukovskaya
This park is another good example of successful gentrification of Budapest. By means of a few explosions and joint efforts of young architects, the territory of the 1884 factory was turned into an oasis with artificial ponds, theater, exhibition space, kid playgrounds decorated with folklore Hungarian adornments and city's gardens.
Right after World War I it became clear that the factory should be removed from the city. Being in the very centre of Buda, the land plot was too valuable. However, World War II delayed removal of infrastructure to the provinces for a long period. At the end of 1980s, the factory was on the verge of bankruptcy and couldn't keep in line technologically with other similar factories in Europe. It was decided to make its territory more useful for people.
The architects' most challenging goal was to decide what should be demolished. As a result, two buildings were pulled down in 2000, while one structure was defined as listed. The House of Future was built here with a hostess-robot greeting you. There is also a theatre here and Pixel gallery inspired by the spiral structure of Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Millenáris is located in Buda, not far from Mamut trade centre and Gül Baba. In 2002, the park's owners won a prestigious European prize for their art-park concept.
