17 May 2016
Hungarian studio prevail in architecture comepetition for Budapest's Museum of Ethnography
BY Kim Megson
Hungarian architects Napur have won the international design competition to design the new Museum of Ethnography building in Budapest.
The firm – who worked in collaboration with architects and designers Rudolf Mihály, Orfi József, Bodonyi Csaba, Dávid Papp and Exon 2000 – overcame high-profile competition from 14 other design teams, including the likes of MVRDV, Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and the Office for Metropolitan Architecture.
The winning scheme is a gradually curving convex volume with an intricate, partly-golden patterned facade and a grass-covered roof.
The jury, who unanimously selected Napur's scheme, said: "This emblematic building distinguished by clear outlines might well become iconic internationally. In regard to the museum’s operation, the submitted project fully satisfies the technological requirements and those linked to the collection. It was valued as one of the best from the perspective of sustainability too."
Napur senior architects Marcel Ferencz and György Détári said: “It’s a great feeling to be honoured with a first prize in an international competition. We did not expect it. Our first goal was just to find a correct form for the place.
“Innovation for us does not mean for us to use new technologies or new materials. It’s using common structures and materials to achieve the dreamt of architectural effect.”
The building will house a collection of more than 200,000 ethnographic artefacts and 400,000 historical documents.
The jury ranked the designs of Sauerbruch Hutton and BIG in second and third place, respectively. They will share a prize money pot of €400,000 (US$429,000, £293,000) with the winners.
Last year, French studio Vallet de Martinis DIID Architects won a competition to design a new home for the museum, but the competition was rerun after the prospective site of the project was changed.
The Museum of Ethnography is a major component of a wider HUF75bn (US$277m, €235m, £183m) museum quarter scheme in Budapest’s City Park.
Other museums in the area will include the House of Hungarian Music designed by Sou Fujimoto, the New National Gallery by SANAA and the Museum of Hungarian Architecture by KÖZTI Architects & Engineers.
The quarter has been projected to draw an extra 300,000 tourists to Budapest every year, as the city tries to compete with other popular culture destinations across Europe, such as Prague and Barcelona.
Construction on the museums is expected to begin in 2018 at the latest.
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