A curve to link park and city. Budapest Ethnography Museum by Napur Architect
01/09/2022.
[Budapest] Hungary
metalocus, ADELA BONAS
metalocus, ADELA BONAS
The new home of the Museum of Ethnography realised as part of the Liget Budapest Project, opened its doors to the public on 23 May and welcomes visitors with its spectacular exhibitions. The building has been designed as the result of an international competition won by Marcel Ferencz (NAPUR Architect).
The new museum is part of the master plan for Liget Budapest and marks for the first time, in the 150-year history of the institution, a project to present the collection of 250,000 objects together, with a concept adapted to the needs of a museum. ethnographic.
The local studio won a competition featuring international heavyweights such as Zaha Hadid Architects, being praised by the jury for being "distinguished by a dynamic yet simple design harmonized with the natural setting of the park while communicating with the urban texture of its surroundings."
The new museum is part of the master plan for Liget Budapest and marks for the first time, in the 150-year history of the institution, a project to present the collection of 250,000 objects together, with a concept adapted to the needs of a museum. ethnographic.
The local studio won a competition featuring international heavyweights such as Zaha Hadid Architects, being praised by the jury for being "distinguished by a dynamic yet simple design harmonized with the natural setting of the park while communicating with the urban texture of its surroundings."
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
Model. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Sketch. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Sketch. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Site plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Basement plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Ground floor plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
First floor plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Second floor plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Third floor plan. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Section. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
Elevation. New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect.
The new museum designed by Marcel Ferencz (NAPUR Architect) is located on the site of the former Felvonulási Square, before basically an urban surface car park. Now Budapest's urban park houses one of the most modern museum buildings in Europe, displaying a collection of incomparable diversity in a space three times larger than that of its previous headquarters in Kossuth Square.
The spectacular building, shaped like a pair of almost embracing hillsides, is distinguished by the decoration of its unique facade with almost half a million pixels that present a contemporary adaptation of twenty Hungarian and twenty international ethnographic motifs, as well as its more than seven floors in the roof garden.
The spectacular building, shaped like a pair of almost embracing hillsides, is distinguished by the decoration of its unique facade with almost half a million pixels that present a contemporary adaptation of twenty Hungarian and twenty international ethnographic motifs, as well as its more than seven floors in the roof garden.
As NAPUR describes: “The gently curving lines enable the building to function as a gateway and a passage linking the city and the park. Sixty per cent of the structure is under ground level, and thanks to the landscaped roof and the transparency of the sections over the ground, the new museum is adapted to its environment in its scale too. The grass-covered roof area will be a pleasant community space awaiting visitors to Városliget.”
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
Project description by Napur Architect
The new building of the Museum of Ethnography in the Budapest City Park (Városliget) was opened (23/05/2022).
The multiple award-winning new museum building – which is part of Europe’s largest urban-cultural development called Liget Budapest Project - designed by FERENCZ, Marcel; Napur Architect - has dynamic yet simple lines simultaneously harmonised with the park environment and communicating with the surrounding urban area. The City Park (Városliget) is a familiar venue for the Museum of Ethnography: its collection debuted here at the 1896 Millennium Exhibition.
The City Park (Városliget) is not an entirely unknown venue for the Museum of Ethnography, since it was here in 1896, at the National Millennium Exhibition. The collection, which now comprises 250 thousand items from the Carpathian Basin and from every corner of the world, has been hosted by various facilities since its establishment in 1872, but never in its history did it operate in a building designed specifically to cater to its needs. The current location, which once was home to the Hungarian Curia, is far from being suitable to meet the requirements of a museum and is severely limited in terms of space and opportunities. As a result of the international design competition, successful construction, and completion in May 2022 the Museum of Ethnography was finally given a new home in a truly modern building of an all-around world-class standard that will satisfy professional requirements while catering to the needs of the collection and visitors alike. According to the decision of an international jury, the competition was won by the Hungarian architectural studio, Napur Architect (beating leading world-class architect studios such as Zaha Hadid, BIG, etc.), whose building is distinguished by a dynamic yet simple design harmonised with the natural environment of the park while communicating with the urban texture of its surroundings. The gently curving lines enable the building to function as a gateway and a passage linking the city and the park. Sixty per cent of the structure is under ground level, and thanks to the landscaped roof and the transparency of the sections over the ground, the new museum is adapted to its environment in its scale too. The grass-covered roof area will be a pleasant community space awaiting visitors to Városliget.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
New Museum of Ethnography by Napur Architect. Photograph by Palkó György.
The spectacular trademark of the building is the glass curtainwall surrounding the landscaped roof garden, reminiscent of two intertwined hillsides, with a unique characteristic, consisting of nearly half a million pixels, a raster made by metal grid based on ethnographic motifs selected from the museum's Hungarian and international collections. The pixels were inserted into a laser-cut aluminium grid by a special robot, more than 2,000 of which are attached to the building. The small cubes were made up of 20 Hungarian and 20 international contemporary reinterpretations of ethnographic motifs.
The Museum of Ethnography is already recognized as one of the most exciting contemporary buildings on the continent. Evidence of that, it was voted for the Best Mega Futura Project of Europe (as part of the Liget Project) at the MIPIM Awards 2017 and has won the fiercely contested title of World’s Best Architecture at the 2018 International Property Awards. The project was one of over 1700 entries from 115 countries, scrutinised by a judging committee, which is chaired by four UK Lords as well as over 80 global experts.
The new functions and flexible spaces of the modern and state-of-the-art museum building will facilitate the understanding of the historical heritage embodied by the collection as well as the various aspects of contemporary society. Besides passing down this historical heritage, the realisation of more recent professional and research themes and perspectives continues to be among the priority objectives of the museum, as confirmed by its mission. The creatively built spaces will open up new opportunities to communicate with visitors, enabling the presentation of the everyday objects, phenomena and ideas of the past and the present side by side. The purpose-built museum was designed with maximum consideration for the required functions, and thus facilitates the large-scale, modern, user-friendly operation of the institution to a significant degree, along with the visually enticing and diverse display of mankind’s material and spiritual heritage, as well as the collection comprising Hungarian and international material.
More information
Architects
Napur Architect LtD. Principal architect.- Marcel FERENCZ.
Design team
György Détári, Filó Gergely, Holyba Pál, Nyul Dávid, Grócz Csaba, Mészáros Mónika.
Collaborators
Interior design.- Czakó Építész Ltd.
Support structure.- Exon 2000 Ltd. Szántó László
Building engineering.- HVarC Ltd. Lucz Attila
Landscaping.- Garten Studio Ltd.
Support structure.- Exon 2000 Ltd. Szántó László
Building engineering.- HVarC Ltd. Lucz Attila
Landscaping.- Garten Studio Ltd.
Client
Városliget Zrt.
Benedek Gyorgyevics, the CEO of Városliget Zrt
Lajos Kemecsi, the director of the Museum of Ethnography
László Baán, the project’s ministerial commissioner.
Benedek Gyorgyevics, the CEO of Városliget Zrt
Lajos Kemecsi, the director of the Museum of Ethnography
László Baán, the project’s ministerial commissioner.
General Contractor
ZÁÉV Építőipari Zrt. and Magyar Építő Zrt.
Area
Built area.- 33,000 m².
Site area.- 100,000 m².
Site area.- 100,000 m².
Dates
Competition.- 2016.
Design year.- 2016-2018.
Completion year.- 2022.
Design year.- 2016-2018.
Completion year.- 2022.
Venue
Városliget, Budapest, Hungary.
Photography
Marcel Ferencz. NAPUR Architect
NAPUR Architect Ltd is a family multi-generational intellectual and professional architectural workshop founded by Ferencz István Habil in 1992. Since its inception, the company has been involved in architectural design and accumulated decades of experience as a lead designer in turnkey projects from concept to completion. Now the architecture firm is led by Ferencz Marcel Habil.
The firm has numerous outstanding architectural works, received many architectural awards, and is committed to architectural quality. Their mission is to execute the design of turnkey projects of unique, unrepeatable architectural appearance and function for both their domestic and foreign clients. The main profile of the company is the architectural and interior design of public buildings, sports venues, cultural facilities and sophisticated, bespoke residential villas of high quality.
Ferencz Marcel Habil. He is the author of the author of the Danube Arena, which received the FINA Silver Commemorative Medal and the Tierney Clark Award in 2017.
In 2016, the new Hungarian Ethnographic Museum won the 1st prize in an international design competition.
In 2017, he was awarded the 1st prize by the leading designer of the Budapest Athletics Stadium.
In 2018, the new Hungarian Ethnographic Museum, which he designed, won the “European Best Public Building” and “World’s Best Architecture” awards at the International Property Awards, and in 2019, the “Space / Strength” II. National Salon of Architecture - Audience Award.
In 2018, he won the first prize of the national design competition of the National Athletics Stadium, which has been under construction ever since.
In 2021, he won the design of the building in the national design competition for the central building of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium.
The firm has numerous outstanding architectural works, received many architectural awards, and is committed to architectural quality. Their mission is to execute the design of turnkey projects of unique, unrepeatable architectural appearance and function for both their domestic and foreign clients. The main profile of the company is the architectural and interior design of public buildings, sports venues, cultural facilities and sophisticated, bespoke residential villas of high quality.
Ferencz Marcel Habil. He is the author of the author of the Danube Arena, which received the FINA Silver Commemorative Medal and the Tierney Clark Award in 2017.
In 2016, the new Hungarian Ethnographic Museum won the 1st prize in an international design competition.
In 2017, he was awarded the 1st prize by the leading designer of the Budapest Athletics Stadium.
In 2018, the new Hungarian Ethnographic Museum, which he designed, won the “European Best Public Building” and “World’s Best Architecture” awards at the International Property Awards, and in 2019, the “Space / Strength” II. National Salon of Architecture - Audience Award.
In 2018, he won the first prize of the national design competition of the National Athletics Stadium, which has been under construction ever since.
In 2021, he won the design of the building in the national design competition for the central building of the Mathias Corvinus Collegium.
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