Museum of Ethnography, Hungarian Design, Budapest Cultural Centre Architecture Images

Museum of Ethnography

Cultural Centre Development Hungary design by MAURO TURIN ARCHITECTES

16 Apr 2015

Museum of Ethnography in Budapest

Location: Budapest, Hungary

Design: MAURO TURIN ARCHITECTES

Museum of Ethnography in Budapest – Author’s Vision

Facing to a significant complexity of the site, the project assumed a simple and effective resolution of the major issues. A detail analysis of the site added to a thorough study of the urban structure has allowed us to understand how this urban space has been built. The group Fine Arts Museum / Heroes’ square / Art Gallery have the same composition. Each of the museums finally constitutes an urban gateway of an urban space overlooking the heart of the Park Városliget.

The site is built following the repetition of this same traditional pattern (urban gateway), associated to the monument, the place and the street.

Following this logic of construction, our reflection has turned on the reinforcement of this urban principle to incorporate a new monument, the Museum of Ethnography, and on the design of the street and the place to which it will be associated.

First of all the idea of designing a Museum of Ethnography, a major museum among a major operation involving four other national museums just confirm this pattern of thought. The conversion of a long parking in public space leading to the crossroads of streets István utca, Dózsa György út and Ajtósi Dürer sor, finnaly validate this logic.

The challenge has been to find the right balance between a delicate insertion within the urban situation, a suitable resonance of the monument at the different urban and architectonical hierarchies, a correct architectural scale adapted to the spaces to be created, and a correct global functioning of the whole assembly. How to find the correct answers face to this system of urban gateways that confront us to the spaces and therefore of eras of history. Our project is finally nothing but another gateway added to he existing urban system.

Architectural Concept
Gateway: Étymol. and Hist. A. 1. End xes. «Opening in the walls of a city to enter and exit »
To materialize this idea of new urban gateway, it took us back to the essence of what is a gateway. Thanks to its vertical and horizontal walls, this opening marks the passage from a first to a second space.

Our project is articulated by a composition of two wings and a tower. The two wings represent the vertical necessary framework to ensure the embracement of the tower that represents the concept of horizontal extended limit.

From the Fine Arts Museum, the pedestrian will be led at first by a promenade defined by the linearity of its trees, until he/she distinguish the entire Museum of Ethnography. Then, the pedestrian will be attracted by the two wings of the building for finally, after having walked a few steps in the interior street defined by the wings, he/she will be entirely involved by the Museum atmosphere.

The pedestrian will naturally remains walking straight in the direction of the Entrance hall, assembling space that mark subtly a limit between interior and exterior and that is easily and naturally transposed, to find the Public square of the Museum in the corner of the Park Városliget. Finally, our proposal may be seen as a dilation of the spatial-temporal concept of a gate.

Museum of Ethnography – Building Information

Procedure: International architecture competition
Place: Entry
Client: Hungary National Government
Gross floor area: 22’000 sqm
Architects: MAURO TURIN ARCHITECTES
Team: Mauro Turin, Jonathan Pailleux, Victor Vazquez, Magdalena Lewczyk