Façade of the Kelenföld Electrical Substation

The substation stands at the center of a new mixed-use development and supplies electricity to a major part of Budapest. Due to the modernisation of the building and its electrical technology, which was built in the 1960s, the task was to give the building a new look without modifying the existing external structures. The completed building features 3,500 porcelain and glass insulators in an assemblage based on natural analogies. As a result of the movement of the sun, a constantly changing kinetic shadow composition is superimposed on the façade.

Contemporary architecture must define its relationship with ornamentation, as this greatly influences the acceptance and appeal of buildings among communities beyond the profession. The facades of the substation, fitted with porcelain and glass insulators, demonstrate this possibility through natural and geological analogies and concepts. The composition, which draws on the physical materiality of electrical networks, aims to superimpose the compositional structures of living and non-living entities, technology and nature. Since the client is the electricity provider itself, most of the 3,500 insulators were obtained from existing warehouses, so we used the owner's own system to create the ornamentation, both figuratively and physically. Our goal was to elevate a technologically designed object to the level of fine art, by expanding its uses.

The entire facade of the building was covered with off-white plaster with an anti-algae coating. The individual porcelain elements are spaced a few centimeters away from the facade to prevent dirty streaks over time. Each element is installed with flexible and adjustable connections. Behind the uniform facade lie three different construction technologies of varying ages and logic. When developing the composition, we had to take into account the main load-bearing and building physics constraints. The randomness hides a strictly engineered structure. An aluminum expanded metal plinth runs around the entire perimeter of the building, concealing all mechanical outlets and openings behind it.