PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW ACT ON HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE - Mikulski & Patners Attorneys at Law

PRINCIPLES OF THE NEW ACT ON HUNGARIAN ARCHITECTURE 

In Hungary, most of the provisions of the new Building Act, which relate to building zones, the register of industrial areas and environmental protection, came into force on 1 October 2024.
 

Our Partners - BALÁZS & KOVÁTSITS Legal Partnership law office in Budapest, Hungary – will review the most important principles of the new Act, many of which are new provisions that have not been included in Hungarian Construction Law before and which are comprehensive. 

Perhaps the most novel sounding principle is the principle of civic good taste and architectural quality. According to the new Act, civic good taste prevails when building activity is based on awareness, takes into account the architectural culture of the municipality and the values of Hungarian culture, as well as the town planning requirements set by the municipality.

The Act therefore refers to values the definition of which requires a sense of genius loci / specificity of the place where the construction project is carried out. This value in Polish conditions should be fulfilled by the departments of architecture and the (building) conservation officer.

The next principle to be highlighted is the principle of minimum necessity, which means that construction activities should always start with an assessment of the real needs and the current situation, by which is meant the avoidance of unnecessary landscaping, construction, demolition and vegetation removal activities.

According to the principle of protection of natural habitats, the level of environmental protection achieved must be respected when siting new constructions.

 In Polish conditions, I associate these solutions with the slogan: ‘No to concrete in the cities’ (Polish original: Nie betonozie, literally: No to concretosis, but it means that we should allow for more greenery in the cities because many places are being covered with a thick layer of concrete and fewer green areas in the cities prevail).

The size of the green area zone within a municipality may not be reduced

The new law also emphasises the importance of placing works of art on buildings, especially on public buildings.

So it is to be beautiful, ecological, sustainable, in line with tradition and in good taste.

Let's hope it works!

                                                                                                              Dr. Tamás BALÁZS Managing 

                                                                                                                            Partner Attorney at law 

                                                                                                                          Honorary Professor of law

(edited: Andrzej Mikulski)

You can read it in Polish in the following document: Polish version.pdf