An Integrated Cultural and Musical Vision for Budapest

The House of Hungarian Music is poised to become the universally recognized icon for Budapest, one that is synonymous with Budapest’s dynamic identity. The site in the center of the park serves as a powerful sym-bol—one that evokes an instantaneous and indelible impression of Budapest as a global steward of the envi-ronment and culture, with an optimistic vision and commitment to the future.
The LigetBudapest has represented the symbolic center of Hungarian culture, economics and politics. This scheme is unequivocally unique to the ecology and topography of its site: it redefines the site boundaries to encompass the whole park, incorporates a nature preserve as an integral part of the design, and brings the surrounding landscape onto the site. Beyond simply a proposal for a building complex, the comprehensive design for the house of Hungarian music transforms the entire park into a world-class cultural destination and an ecological haven.

Iconic Jewel and Musical Blending Container:

A World-Class Musical Museum Destination
Positioned, literally, at the heart of Budapest, the HHM connects the social and cultural fabric in the park. The architecture becomes, by virtue of its sculpted and indelible form, a civic jewel in the park, with distinct facets visible from all corners of the park. The HHM appears to shift continually—not a fixed image but rath-er a dynamic structure that responds to its site, environment, and time of day. The HHM’s form bifurcates to house the distinct volumes of the two exhibition spaces and auditorium, the primary view is of the undulat-ing forms of the Center as they interact with and integrate with the surrounding landscape, the HHM’s reflec-tive forms reach out over the park, to establish a distinctive and iconic civic landmark. The HHM transforms diurnally: by day, its skin appears reflective, shimmering with light bounced off the healing water, while by night it appears to glow, its translucent skin revealing the activity within.

When a visitor crosses onto the park, he transitions from his daily urban life to the ceremonial experience of visiting exhibition, to the respite of the nature preserve. From the lake, the visitor enjoys both the new Cent-er’s cultural assets and nature preserve, while simultaneously experiencing a unique perspective in the park and the city beyond.
A Dynamic Arrival: Healing Water & Blending Landscape
Our scheme incorporates the lake and green space—a valuable asset to the city of Budapest that reinforces the HHM as a civic destination. Approaching from the lake, the public healing pool welcomes visitors and provides an outdoor space for groups to congregate. From the plaza, visitors enjoy views of both the Center to the east and the sweeping landscape to the west. The dynamic arrival sequence incrementally reveals spec-tacular views of the water, the arriving hall, and the natural terrain.

Grand Lobby & Dramatic Views of the Atrium
After passing through the glazed entry, the visitor arrives at the Grand Lobby, his perspective extended with expansive views of the spiral stair and dynamic atrium, through a faceted, full-height glass curtain wall.

A Transition from Daily Life to the World of Music
The formal entry sequence leading from the Grand Lobby to the exhibition space conveys the civility, cosmo-politan nature, and symbolism of the music. Throughout the procession, guests enjoy views to the park and city beyond while simultaneously engaging in and themselves becoming part of the public spectacle.

Gracious Promenade to the Eco-Park
A rooftop promenade takes performance-goers and the public from the exhibition space to the Eco-Park and the Amphitheater on the north side of the site.
Our proposal capitalizes on the unique attributes of the site—its topography, its singular views of LigetBuda-pest, its symbolism and history—to create an international landmark for Budapest. When complete, the new HHM will be completely and inseparably integrated, in a project that will come to define the city of Buda-pest’s rising cultural influence.

Symbiotic Relationship Between Building, Landscape and Water
Our proposal creates an environment that functions as an ecological and cultural oasis—a complementary counterpoint to Budapest’s dynamism and intensity. The HHM’s architectural forms move into and out of the sculpted terrain, interweaving building with landscape and built environment with site. The design not only affords a valuable natural public amenity, but also maximizes energy efficiency and the responsible use of re-sources for the HHM, extending the City’s ongoing sustainable initiatives.

Integrating Water
The scheme fundamentally re-shapes the park, bringing water and landscape onto the site to integrate with the architecture, accentuating the park’s symbiotic connection to the city.
Water also plays a key role in the HHM’s cutting edge sustainable systems: to condition the building and maximize energy efficiency, water from the building passes through a pipe submerged in the park, where it is cooled and used as a heat pump. A separate system collects rainwater and grey water, and distributes it to the nature reserve, where plant species and ground materials naturally filter the water. The cleaned water then moves on to the reflecting pool, and finally flows over the infinity edge back into the lake.