Márta FISCHER–László MARGITAY
On the events of the hungarian ELASA-meeting

(Summary)

ELASA is an abbreviation for European Landscape Architecture Students Association. The right to organise last year’s conference was attained by the students of the Faculty of Landscape Architecture at the Corvinus University of Budapest (BCE), in 2006 on the ELASA meeting in Versailles. The readers of the Szép Kertek could already receive a detailed description of the association and its function earlier. In our retrospective article we reported the events and results of the 22 SZÉP KERTEK N 50. hungarian meeting in 2008. The news of the conference reached many universities in lots of europian countries. We were able to publicize on several internet sites and web magazines raising the reputation of the meeting and the importance of landscape architecture.

From 15 countries – on the beautiest lands of our country
46 foreing landscape architecture students form 15 countries have arrived on the conference (USA, Belgium, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, Polland, Latvia, Germany, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey). Within the 13 days of the meeting we introduced the hungarian landscapes and landscape architecture to the participants with the help of professional programs. The conference took place on seven main locations in our country, in each case we were attentive to the local facilities, needs and necessities. The 7 main locations were: Budapest – Hortobágy – Tokaj – Pécs – Balaton Uplands – Bakony – Nagymaros.

In Budapest
First station: While listening to the presentations held at the Buda Campus of the BCE the foreign students could gain a look in our countrie’s history, culture, they could hear about the changing of hungarian landscapes, the history of teaching landscape architecture, and above these we made them familiar with the theme of the conference and the organisation of ELASA. The professionally significant places in the capital we could visit with the guidance of their designers: Kopaszi dyke – István Steffler (Garten Studio), Fővám square station for the M4 subway – Ádám Hatvani (Sporaarchitects), Millenar park – Dominika Tihanyi (Újirány), botanical garden on the Buda Campus of the BCE, Erzsébet square and the Swale – István Péter Balogh (S73). On the next day the participant occupied themselves with sightseeing and other unbound programs. The day was closed by an intimate dinner.

Hortobágy, Tokaj
On the 4th day of the conference leaving Budapest we made our way to the heart of the country. Our next location was the warm, desolate, blake world of the Hortobágy. We were able to hear many interesting presentations from folk artists, from the director of the Hortobágy National Park and his co-workers. There was an all-day workshop on the 3rd day of our stay at the Hortobágy. The students built cottages out of reed in the Bleak’s zoo of the Hortobágy Kht. During the building process the international team used the traditions and materials of the local folk architecture and reclined themselves upon the expertness of reed-builder craftsmen. The mutual activity inspired the leaders of the Hortobágy Kht. and the organizers, as well as the foreign participants. During the works in Hortobágy we made a one-day excursion to the region of the vineland of Tokaj, where we took part in a vine tasting.

Pécs
On the 7th day of the meeting we aimed Pécs as the 4th location. In the famous Paleochristian Cemetery our guide was Dr. Zoltán Bachmann, who was the designer of the renewal works. The workshop was transacted on the next day. The DLA studio of the Pecs Univerity of Sciences proved to be a perfect place for our project. The theme was to make an environmental plan for the research center, which is going to be built on the universitie’s property. On the whole we can say, that the completed plans proved the highleveled professional, aesthetic qualification of the participants, although that students of different nations, grades and fields had to work together. The jury - formed from professors and architects, reckoned the results of the workshop as very inspiring.

Tihany, Balaton Uplands
Leaving Pécs behind we arrived at Tihany on the 9th day of the conference, where after visiting the renewed inner court of the Abbey, we come in for a professionally led tour on the area of the inner lakes and geyser cones of Tihany, and in the Káli Basin the day after. In the case of the programs in the environment of Lake Balaton, we focused on the values of the land, introducing the geological, culture-historical and landscape details. On the 2nd day of our stay on the Balaton Uplands the students took part in a workshop. The villa of Mihály Mőcsényi landscape architecture professor in Balatongyörök, which is an ensemble of house and garden established on the place of an old stone mine, was an excellent location for drawing. The goal of the task was to improve manual and freehand drawing skills, and it was concluded in an unrehearsed exhibition on the premises. The personality of the professor, and the uniqueness of the place brought out the best in everyone.

Bakony
11th day: Besides introducing the Cuha Valley and the castle of Csesznek in the Bakony, we tried out the light painting as a new experience. That meant, that under the cover of the night, the lenses of the cameras were left open for a longer period, while we visualized various forms with pocketlamps. The task was that the theme of the light painting should be a work in connection with landscape architecture, nomadism or the ELASA. Drawing people around while moving or making various captions proved to be the most popular. For the closing ceremony a short video was made from the selected pictures, which can be found on the youtube web portal.

Danube Bend
On the last day of the conference, the goal was to introduce the Danube Bend as a part of the world treasures. In the spirit of international collaboration and keeping the traditions of the ELASA conferences we planted rowan trees in Nagymaros along the passage of the Danube Coast.

The afterlife of the conference
Following the end of the conference the work was still going on. In september of 2008 we had the opportunity to present the events of the meeting in the Contemporary Architecture Center (KÉK), we organized an exhibition on the Buda Campus of the BCE, we wrote several articles and compiled a report-like, summing issue as well. During the works after the conference we got offers to participate in several ongoing projects. Our organizer team was searched by the acting manager of the Hortobágy National park to be part of the project of the starlit sky, which has the goal to raise attention to the real problems of light pollution. We were asked for help from Homokkomárom in Zala county to organize a summer camp as a point of origin for village renewal. Dr.Zoltán Bachmann from Pécs counts on us in the environmental planning of the research centre, which is about to be built.

Press
Following the conference publications appeared on the site of the Hortobágy National Park, the Contemporary Architecture Centre and on the sites of some of our sponsors too. An english interview was made about the association of the ELASA and about the hungarian conference. The foreign participants are keeping contact ever since on a mutual weblist; they help each other with proffessional, academic and employment matters.

Summary
We, organizers have learnt a lot during and before the conference about organizing, teamwork, profession and life positions. We called in many other landscape architecture students, from various grades and fields to help in the preparation works, which lasted almost a year long. It feels uplifting that we could manage to organize and transact this 2 week long international conference of a great tradition, giving a big task to the next year’s organizer team. Many thanks to our sponsors!