KÉK Urban Talks

In the 2024/2025 KÉK Urban Talks season we will continue to collaborate with Fellows of the LINA Platform to introduce good practices in the urban and architectural field represented by the projects. The aim of the series of programmes is to invite organizers of urban planning and architecture projects abroad who have either implemented a method that is considered successful at an international level or have taken an innovative approach to a particular urban problem. There are usually two parts to the events: one is a small, closed workshop, where we specifically invite Hungarian professionals working in the field of the topic. The other is a public lecture, at the end of which participants have the opportunity to ask questions and talk to the speakers in an informal setting. 

The event will take place in Budapest, Hungary, at the Project Gallery of KÉK – Contemporary Architecture Centre, located in the vibrant up-and-coming Újbuda District of the capital. Two fellows from the 2022 Open Call will be invited to present their work in October 2023 and March 2024, and further collaboration with future Fellows of the 2023 Open Call will also be possible. More information about the invited Fellows will be available on the webpage and social media sites of KÉK soon.

The Urban Talks international lecture and workshop series was launched in September 2021 with the invitation of the Chief Architect and Deputy Chief Architect of Barcelona. At the time, we didn't think that this would be the start of a new series of events at KÉK, but in the meantime we have organized more and more events around the same concept. The feedback shows how much demand there is in Hungary today not only to read about good practices abroad in the online media, but also to be able to talk to these professionals in person and exchange experiences.

In 2022, we hosted Hans Karssenberg (NL), Beitske Boonstra (NL) and Tiago Mota Saraiva (PT) from Placemaking Europe, Demetrio Scopelliti and Stefano Ragazzo (IT) from Milan, the founders of the Piazze Aperte programme, and Ljubo Georgiev and Joro Penchev (BG), the founders of the Team Sofia movement. The three events attracted nearly 250 people.

Collaboration profiles

We are happy to collaborate with urban think tanks, NGOs working with the city, project offices dealing with the context of the built environment in innovative and sustainable ways. We are looking for new and tested methodologies, good practices of urban regeneration, examples of urban placemaking, projects dealing with local identity, and much more.