Based in Budapest, this practice hopes to reimagine Hungarian architectural history by interpreting it in playful, pedagogical structures and research projectsParadigma Ariadn was shortlisted for the AR Emerging awards 2024. Read about the full shortlist here Paradigma Ariadn is a practice that chooses, they say, to do everything. From outdoor education trails to exhibitions andpublications, the Budapestbased office is committed to transforming Hungarys architectural culture while reckoning with its complex history. At its core are Attila Rbert Cska, Szabolcs Molnr and Dvid Smil, who founded the practice in 2016 asrecent graduates. Their inventive and narrative approach has brought them international recognition, such as in their curation of the Hungarian Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale.The legacies of socialist state architecture in the Hungarian Peoples Republic of 19491989 weaves through Paradigma Ariadns work. In their words, they aim to create another narrative: a radical reaction to the state of architecture in Hungary during socialism, when state architects didnot interact with the people. For their Venice pavilion, they invited 12 architects from Central and Eastern Europe to respond to monumental buildings of the socialist era,imagining their potential futures. For Paradigma Ariadn, the contemporary is intrinsically tied to the past, and historical narratives are fertile ground to forge new ones.Their 2023 project, dubbed Blue Signature, embodies architecture as storytelling. An outdoor education trail stitched through a lush, rainforestlike bogland in the suburbs of Budapest, it consists of an assemblage of elevated wooden walkways and pavilions. While the walkways are largely left exposed, the four pavilions and bridge are painted adeep blue. One of the rarest naturally occurring colours, it contrasts with the surrounding vegetation, pointing to the artificiality of the landscape and larger questions of architecture in the anthropocene. As vegetation will encroach and appropriate the structures over time, the architects imagine a scene similar to Ren Magrittes surrealist 1965 painting The Blank Signature, an impossible image where a human figure on horseback merges with and disappears into the forest. Like Magrittes figure, the blue pavilions will oscillate between visibility and invisibility as seasons change.Signs provide insight to locals, children and tourists who crowd the bogland at weekends, eager to learn about Budapests biodiversity. We created a rounded and complete narrative, the architects explain, interpreting the sitesindustrial history, rural condition and ecological importance. The structures are playful, incorporating climbing walls and netted walkways that lend the feeling of an obstacle course. Theproject is entirely antithetical to the monumental didacticism of the Soviet era.This was Paradigma Ariadns first designbuild project, exemplifying their dexterity inhandling a wide range of work. Ultimately, their method is conversation, where discussions within and outside the office propel projects forward. These critical dialogues, paired with an agility to work between formats and their ambitions to take on larger projects, position them to make real change within Hungary: architecturally, culturally and even politically.Lead image: For an outdoor trail in a bogland outside Budapest, Hungarian architecture practice Paradigma Ariadn referred to The Blank Signature, a surrealist painting from 1965 by Ren Magritte. In this collage, the project is integrated into Magrittes woodland. Credit: Paradigma Ariadn