Winkler Rebeka Johanna
Architecture MA
supervisor
Marián Balázs
masterwork consultant
Molnár Bea
masterwork opponent
Kopacz Hanna
thesis consultant
Schmidt Andrea
thesis opponent
Povedák István
masterwork
Roma Parliament and Community House
Urban square in Tavaszmező Street
The Roma Parliament, a key centre of the Roma community in Budapest created together by a number of nonprofit organisations, used to be located at no.6 in Tavaszmező Street. Pursuing political activities and offering a wide range of cultural programmes, it was a formative centre of the community. The organisation was evicted in 2016, and the heritage building has been empty ever since. In my diploma project I describe how the area could be used if the Roma community were to get its former emblematic place back. The site of the design project comprises 3 plots: the former building of the Roma Parliament facing Tavaszmező Street, a residential building used as a studio facing József Street, and an empty plot. As the plots are managed as one unit, people can walk across the area and it becomes a passage of sorts, a public space connecting the streets. Community functions are brought to this urban space: an exhibition and performance space, restaurants, creative spaces and spaces operated by nonprofit organisations focusing on Roma representation. On the empty plot, above the community functions, there is a new, narrow building mass with a dormitory and social housing units.
thesis
The Roma civil movement
The community and cultural spaces of the Roma in Józsefváros
In my thesis I aim to explore the emancipation opportunities of the Roma community in Budapest. My hypothesis is that, in addition to systemic issues like education, housing and representation, the situation of the Roma community in Budapest is conserved by the lack of urban focal points and community spaces – spaces that build communities, generate meetings and provide opportunities for cultural self-representation. I started to explore these places and organisations by looking at their history and identifying the key stages of the civil movement in the past 60 years, with a special focus on former institutions that have been ruined. With that, I tried to map and record the current situation of the institutional structure to find what was missing – as I felt that something might be.
I interpret the current institutions as a spatial network, and I present case studies of three exemplary organisations. The examination of the various layers of the situation revealed the options the Roma community has and the gap I wish to fill with the vision presented in my thesis.
I interpret the current institutions as a spatial network, and I present case studies of three exemplary organisations. The examination of the various layers of the situation revealed the options the Roma community has and the gap I wish to fill with the vision presented in my thesis.
