Makovecz’s wooden mushroom at the Vác ferry

MAGYARUL

Aunties – like my grandmother used to be – are slowly dying out from our modern world. They used to rebuke without hesitation and fear the young vandals, those who swear, litter and drop their cigarette stubs. They used to notice immediately if a tile was missing from the church’s roof and the y hurried to the vicar to have it replaced. This entry is for the memory of these aunties. I hope one day we will be able to grow up to them from this recent „this is none of my business” mentality.

This wooden mushroom grew up within the executive borders of Tahitótfalu, on the Révész (Ferryman) island facing the town of Vác. It was erected in 1983-84 next to the ferryboat station as a waiting room. It was designed 30 years ago by the young Imre Makovecz, who later became Hungary’s most renown organic architect. Later the ferry moved upstream and the mushroom was left abandoned. The passangers does not use this waiting room anymore and it slowly decays.

A flood came first, which damaged its balustrade, and at the same time it covered the foundations with sand. Today the ferrymen keep their wire rope here, apparently because it is a dry place. But rainfall filters through the roof, where once a fallen tree bench hit a leak. Some of the old wooden benches are missing, only just enough not to sit there anymore.

This building is one of the forgotten early works of Makovecz, the locals got used to it, and no one comes here just to visit the mushroom. But it would be worthy to see.

Architect could say this more properly than me, but for me it is like a capped mushroom emerging from a . The cap of the mushroom also resembles the structure of a tree. Once it was a nice look-out tower with open spaces, and a splendid view on the Naszály mountain and the towers of Vác. Nowdays the vegetation slowly draws on the building, as if they accept this mushroom or tree as it was one of them, not a concrete, man-made structure.

    

If we always wait for someone else, this building will soon be in ruins. We should not let this valuable architecture disappear.

UPDATE 2013. November. 

This is what I wrote about Makovecz's mushroom one year ago. Let's see if something has happened since then.

Due to the great flood on the Danube in 2013. June the structure suffered more losses. Four section of the wooden balustrade was destroyed. It has been replaced with a rope wire. The concrete still has water in it (dark spots on its surface). If this water freezes inside, the concrete will be blasted into pieces.

There are more leaks, and less tiles on the roof. Someone uses now this place to keep his bike dry and safe.

This is how the "mushroom" looks like, just before winter. I hope there will be some progress next year, because damage after damage it will be more hard and expensive to repair.