The Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK) is an independent organisation based in Budapest engaged in a wide range of public activities related to architecture and urbanism. Since 2006 it has served as a key platform for discussing urban issues and promoting contemporary architecture in Central Europe and has built a network of international collaborations focusing mainly on urban activism and research.
Its research and education programs, consultancy engagements and various projects focus on a great variety of activities ranging from the reuse of vacant urban properties to education on built heritage and from suburban community development to regional brand building. KÉK is also an important venue in Budapest for hosting professional programs, exhibitions and research dissemination events, as well as an organisation seeking to bring together architects and planners with decision makers and the broader public. KÉK’s most important mission is to make the issues of contemporary architecture, planning and design accessible and comprehensible to the broader public, and to promote a community-based, participatory approach in urban policy. As for public education activities, its festivals, lecture series, mentoring programme and guided urban walks help thousands of citizens to experience the city in new, more engaged ways.
In the past few years KÉK has been involved in several projects funded by programmes such as Erasmus+, Interreg, International Visegrad Fund, Driving Urban Transitions, European Urban Initiative or the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme. KÉK is an official member of the New European Bauhaus initiative and is representing Hungary in the coordinator group of the European Triennial of Modernism (ETOM) NEB-Lab.