Julianna Libárdi has got into the world of Budapest100(BP100) Weekend of Open Houses as a volunteer. It has enchanted her so much, that she has been working on the programme as a project leader already for 4 years. She thinks that Budapest100 is not only highlighting the values of the built environment but also one of the newest instruments of community building, which proved to be very effective mainly in urban environment.
- When and how did you get involved in Budapest100?
- In 2013 I was attending the Museum and Cultural Management faculty of Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design, where I had to participate in a traineeship. Then I got involved in the programme and I have been stuck there since.
- What are you engaged with now?
- At the start I was the coordinator of the volunteers, now I am working as a project manager together with János Klanczay to present more and more houses and stories. Every year more than 150 volunteers work on the programme – enthusiastic residents, program organizers and topic owners also- but a permanent organizer team is also existing, dealing with the background tasks: the research leader, the volunteer coordinators, the colleagues working on communication.
- BP100 has entered the international fields through the URBACT network, so much so that it serves as a good practice for the ‘Come in! – talking houses shared stories’ project. Why have you decided to propagate the idea?
- We came up with the idea some time ago that it would be good to roll out the programme outside the city or even outside the country, and try elsewhere what could be realized or how it could be realized. Budapest is a very special area: the houses, their arrangement, their stories, and so on. That is the reason why we used the application opportunity and Municipality of Újbuda has been a good partner from the very start.
- How could you describe the essence of BP100? Why should somebody else also undertake this?
- The most important thing is maybe the socialization. BP100 has demonstrated that not only the professionals are able to highlight the values of built environment and its protection, but receptive residents also. Professionals, volunteers and the residents share their own story and story of their houses. It is a kind of mixture of architecture, cultural and personal stories, through which the residents themselves recognize the treasures around them and experience how good it feels to share this with others. A kind of knowledge comes around here, making the community become more.
Photo: Hutter Katalin Cecília
