A huge underwater world has been created across a wall on Frankel Leó út in Buda District II. The newly unveiled mural is a collaboration between design students at MOME and renowned city muralists Színes Város, inspired by the János Molnár Cave alongside, the largest underwater one within Hungary.
Twenty-two students and three tutors at MOME, along with creatives at Színes Város first worked together on a mural called Kócsag (‘Egret’) on Bertalan Lajos utca in Buda. The current building on Frankel Leó út was proposed by the students as part of their course. The task was to renovate and rethink a heritage building with a firewall, within the context of the surrounding urban fabric.
Several designs were created for the chosen edifice, judged by a professional board set up for the purpose. Painting and preparation then took five weeks and 330 litres of paint.
The chosen image is linked with the János Molnár Cave on Frankel Leó út, the largest underwater active hot spring in Hungary, and the only one that has been excavated to a significant extent in the Buda hills and around Budapest.
This is the site of the former Népgőzfürdő steam baths, out of use since the 1970s. A small set of stairs leads deep into the belly of the mountain, revealing the János Molnár Cave system.
Completely submerged in waters of 22-23 degrees, only a fraction of the caves have been explored and only trained divers may visit for research purposes.
