Liget Budapest International Design Competition - House of Hungarian Music

Vision

The museum of music is fine if it dissolves in its natural surroundings and is bound to nature with as many ties as possible. Both music and nature can be interpreted as an experience of flow: as a streaming medium that travels inside and outside our bodies. Is it possible to make such an architecture that conveys the atmosphere of this flow? Is it possible to dream of such an architecture that is not an obstacle to this flow, but rather a source of energy? Is it possible to conceive such an architecture where it disappears in the texture of tree trunks and its greenery?
While conceiving the museum, we used a very special characteristic of music and of nature: both of them are able to create an atmosphere. Therefore, in addition to the simplicity of the object, there is a single symbolic gesture in the building. A light roof floats like a cloud in the grove, supported by thin rods. These rods seemingly do not bear the load of the roof – they follow the contours of the poetic form – densely or sparsely at certain points.


Site relations – House of Music as music pavilion


The building is situated in the Liget close to such museums as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Mucsarnok, Museum of Transport and the future Museum of Photography, Architecture, Ludwig and Ethnography. Each museum is on the edge of Varosliget and is spectacular in its appearance.
The pavilion-like appearance in the parkland is more appropriate than a sensational one. The huge mass of the Museum of Agriculture is a rather disturbing phenomenon. Good examples for the 19th century pavilion typology are the nearby Szechenyi Baths, the Milleneum Salon and the building of the skating rink. A few of them are airy despite their size, since they are porous and split up into smaller volumes.
Pavilions are visually open on each side, they can be used in many ways. They have often covered outdoor spaces, which are lacking in Varosliget. Reference can be made to the portico of the Museum of Fine Arts which have become extremely popular as sitting outside has been made possible. The pavilions work well if theirs essence can be described by a single gesture.

Landscaping

City Park is not a classic English park but rather an urban version of it. On its Western part it is crossed by the straight line of Kos Karoly Walkway which is coupled by the axis of the City Park Tree line. We propose to pedestrianise the latter in part. This axiality is coupled with the unexpected sights, seemingly accidental spots which appear in from many directions and in diverse places. We have to multiply the images that give a sense of distance in the park.