Liget Budapest International Design Competition - Hungarian Museum of Architecture and FotoMuzeum

This project is the Laboratory for Explorative Architecture & Design Ltd. (LEAD)’s 3rd place winning entry for the open international Liget Budapest architectural design competition for the Hungarian Museum of Architecture & FotoMuseum Budapest, for which 110 anonymous entries were received globally. With the design proposal an argument is made for the strategic appropriation and integration of computation in the early stages of architecture design. LEAD shows how today innovation can take place by replacing organic architecture’s abstruse argumentation for form with reasoning grounded in both efficiency and craftmanship. By marrying structurally performing geometries with locally available construction skill and materials, unique spatial solutions are made possible that celebrate regional specificity and identity, while maintaining globally applicable structural principles as integrated part of the building’s tectonic system.

Budapest is planning to fully renovate its historical City Park to which it will add a series of brand new museum buildings. Through this it aims to transform Hungary’s Capital into one of Europe’s new cultural tourism destinations. LEAD's proposal for two of the five new museums covers the Hungarian Museum of Architecture and the FotoMuseum Budapest, which simultaneously function as architectural emblems and as a gateway to the Cultural Park.

The museum's design is founded on a highly innovative, sustainable, and structurally efficient wooden roof concept. Building up on historical precedents such as Eero Saarinen’s 1958 Ingalls Rink in Yale University, and Frei Otto’s 1987 Wilkhahn Manufacturing Pavilions in Bad Muender, Germany, a roof to a double curved wooden deck. This structurally efficient system is introduced into Hungary's existing local tradition of wood craftsmanship, visible in for example the geometrically complex wooden roof architecture of Imre Makovecs and Rudolf Steiner.

The museum layouts strike a balance between freely shaped areas and more conventional spatial organisation. The public gathering spaces are organically shaped, while the operational areas adopt a more rational layout, and the exhibition spaces take on elements of both. On the ground floor the blue-tiled roofs create a welcoming façade by lifting up their edges, inviting visitors to explore and discover the collections inside. The museum entrance is highlighted by a roof light that drops down in the front façade. Bathing in daylight, the reception area reveals the awe-inspiring, dramatic wooden roof structure to gathering visitors who are about to initiate their architectural promenade through the museum. This walk starts in the deep canyon space which slowly prepares them for the exhibitions they are about to enter. Underneath the curvaceous roof, visitors discover the flexible and open exhibition spaces that allow for a variety of possible gallery configurations. Fully integrated climatic controls and technology provide perfect exhibition conditions without visual distraction. Bridges in the canyon connect the exhibition spaces and give deep views through the building and roof light. A staircase hidden inside the canyon wall brings visitors back to their starting point.

All functions of the building are easily accessible via four carefully designed circulation system. These allow for the parallel operation of public exhibitions, office functions, art handling, storage & research, and teaching & learning. A separate route from the entrance lobby gives access to the learning centres via glass public elevators. Located above the exhibition spaces at the top of the building, with stunning views over park and city, we find the bright library with adjacent lecture rooms and research areas. Internal voids connect the different floors with one another, encouraging visitors, students, and researchers to explore the many facets of the museum. Hidden from public view an efficiently organised back-of-house system allows for the easy access, storage, and handling of all the artwork.

Both buildings house an event hall which allows for a wide variety of public functions to be held separately from the exhibition and research functions. The Fotomuzeum's ground floor event hall can be expanded to the outside via a terrace, while the Architecture Museum has its event hall on the first floor at the end of the canyon. Nested underneath the dramatic roof structure, and with views on the calm surrounding park, this space transforms the museum into a unique social forum for celebration and communication.

LEAD’s proposal for the FotoMuzeum Budapest and the Hungarian Museum of Architecture transforms the concept of a museum into a welcoming, vibrant house for the display, research, and storage of cultural highlights ─ a place for discovering the rich cultural treasures that define Hungary.