Architect Proposes Sauron's Lair to be Included in the Budapest Skyline

The famous Hungarian architect and Kossuth Prize winner Imre Makovecz has made public his plans for a national pantheon to replace the Liberation Monument and Citadel located atop Gellért Hill, Index.hu reports. Makovecz was not asked to design a replacement for the monument or citadel, as there are currently no plans to remove it. Nonetheless, when asked by the portal why he went forward and designed it, he said it was to keep the idea of a national pantheon alive, but also because, well, he was bored. And really, if there's a shortage of something in this country, it's monuments to dead Hungarians.

There have been plans to erect a national pantheon atop Gellért Hill for over a hundred years, but pesky things such as wars and subsequent foreign invasions and occupations have not boded well for this project. Makovecz stated that he favors removing the liberation monument and citadel not only for aesthetic reasons, but also for political ones.

The citadel itself was built by the Austrians since Gellért Hill is the highest point in central Budapest, and is a prime location if your goal is to shoot at Hungarians, which following the 1848 revolution and failed war of independence, the Austrians were all too keen about doing. Furthermore, while the Red Army soldiers who used to stand at the base of the liberation monument now serve primarily as a prop in tourist photos at the Statue Park, the origins of the liberation monument still strike a sore point for some people.

Now, Makovecz has designed some really cool buildings in the past, and this is not the first time we've seen fit to mention his work, but the appearance of this one just strikes us as a little odd. Sure, national pantheons are not meant to be subtle or understated, delusional grandeur being something of an essential component in the planning process, but from looking at the picture, Hungary is either going to wind up with it's very own Castle Grayskull, or Sauron's Lair will be soon be in the middle of Budapest. Actually, that makes some sense, considering we already have our own orcs and Uruk-hai.