Poetic Collective took recently a trip to Budapest and asked themselves what happens if we reimagine the purpose of our surroundings and what would be the role of the architect, if we start using the objects than it was intended?

They met up with the architect Gergő Hory who studied the hungarian capital since he moved in 2007:

“I heard someone describing Budapest as an old lady once - a bit dirty, she's seen better times. She has a make up on which is a bit old fashioned, trying to pretend that she has some kind of greatness and elegance but in reality she is a little bit poor and not as elegant as she wants to be. Some kind of lady who pretends she is a bit younger. Well, if you really want to experience the atmosphere of Budapest you ought to listen to Tamás Cseh. He was like the Hungarian Bob Dylan you know, with one guitar and very very strong verses. The melodies are melancholic but very lively at the same time, listening to it I think you can grasp something of the essence of this city.”

Through the eyes of an skateboarder everything around you is either an opportunity or an obstacle. Gergő is working on a research project about public spaces being used for something entirely different than what was intended: 

“I think architecture is good if it serves many possibilities for different uses, and it is not over determined, over controlled. However, people's behaviours will find their way even in the most controlled area, if they want to use it differently they will use it differently. In many cases that leads to very interesting situations.”

Skateboarding as an urban interaction and social network is the perfect example of an alternative interpretation between an object and its occupant. In the end it comes down to a clash of the design of a architectural structure versus the unexpected creative usage. Which leads to an interesting question: If the purpose of an object or a space is tied to the use and not to the form, then who really creates the city?