László Felkai, State Secretary of the Ministry of Interior, handed out Palóczi Antal awards, Lehchner Lajos awards and Pro Architectura awards to outstanding professionals on the World Architecture Day.

The ceremony took place in the Ministry of Interior and representatives of several architecture organizations were present.

Péter Szaló, Deputy State Secretary for Area Management and Construction, emphasized in his speech that the first Monday of October has been celebrated as World Architecture Day since 1998.

Architecture is physical reality, created by the building process and at the same time, above physical reality, it is spiritual reality as well. By being so, architecture is much more dependent on material reality than any other art. That is what makes architecture so human, since only humans are the ones, who live in the material world and are spiritual creatures at the same time.” – the Deputy State Secretary.

The Lechner Lajos award is given to those outstanding professionals who spend at least 10 years in architecture administration.

Winners of the Lechner Lajos award in 2012 are:

•    Mr Attila Gábor Bagoly
•    Mrs Éva Járai Balassa
•    Mrs Zoltán Attila Biro
•    Mr Aladár Hadúr
•    Mrs Veronika Patassy Szeszler

The Palóczi Antal award is given to outstanding professionals in area management in recognition of their work and professional success.

Winners of the Palóczi Antal award in 2012 are:

•    Mr János Körmendy
•    † Mr Ottó Szenczi

The Pro Architectura award is granted by the Ministry of Interior in recognition of an outstanding piece of architecture. In comparison, the Pro Architecture is the second most prestigious recognition in the profession, after the Ybl Miklós award. While the Ybl award is usually given as a recognition of a lifetime’s work, the Pro Architectura award can can also be granted to an architect with only few years of experience.

Winners of 2012 Pro Architectura award are:  

•    Mr Tamás Attila Tarnóczky
•    Mr Ferenc Keller and Mr Benedek János Sólyom DLA
•    Mr Márton Benedek Dévényi and Mr Pál Gyürki-Kiss
•    Mr Bálint Ásztai and Mr Csaba Kovács
•    Mr Tamás Czigány, Mr András Cseh and Mr Róbert Papp

(Prime Minister’s Office)