Hungarian National Museum - complex development

The goal of the competition was fulfilling the demands which in the last big restoration of the Museum were not or just a little taken into account. These – beyond the remaining restoration of the garden – can be categorized into two groups. One is the so called public friendly functions group which serves the comfort of the visitors; the other applies to the changing rate of the regular and temporary exhibitions. The main parts of the restoration were the following:

• The utilization of the northern and southern inner courtyards: In the covered courtyard according to the facade we placed capsules freely which barely reduce the lighting of the corridors around the courtyards. The capsules hosting various exhibitions or performances are attached to the first and second floor levels so the visitors get through the main entrance and lobby of the original building to the first floor and through the main staircase and dome hall to the second floor and receive the building’s Pollack composition‘s main sights.
• The architectural analysis of the Museum’s existing main entrance searching for possible alternative entrances: In our opinion in the aspect of the National Museum’s architectural composition the space line from the entrance to the exhibitions is dominant. For keeping this experience we labeled the building’s existing northern and southern doorways only as alternative periodically opened entrances. Our intention was to create a new lateral axis periodically working together with the garden.
• Creating new pedestrian traffic spaces under and above the surface, redesigning the old ones, furthermore functional reconstruction of the inner spaces: We provided the Museum and its environment with new functions appropriate to the standards of the XXI century. In the northern courtyard and capsule: coffee shop, museum shop, and temporary exhibition hall was placed, in the southern courtyard and capsule childcare room and multifunctional conference room was placed. Under the newly created main staircase the restaurant and the 250 portion kitchen form both courtyards as well as from the museum garden are easily accessible.
• The expansion of the building’s services-logistics functions and the placing of the cars which prevent the using of the garden: Our proposal is a two floor system with two dominant functions (transitive warehouse and parking) for the smallest possible area which place is designed on the Pollack Mihály place side of the building.
• The arrangement and redesign of the museum garden: The museum garden in our interpretation should create a transitional space between the city and the museum. With the proper opening and closing of the garden or the building entrances the garden can be made a part of the city or the institute depending on the demand between the public park and public garden functions. We provide the developing transitional space with functions that satisfy both operating modes meanwhile respecting the historical legacy.