THE PERFECT NEST FOR MUSIC LOVERS HAS BEEN CREATED IN THE HEART OF BUDAPEST HUNGARY

Budapest’s House of Music museum was first unveiled earlier this year on January 22nd, fittingly the same day that Hungary celebrates its national Day of Culture. The museum is part of the Liget Budapest Project, one of Europe’s most ambitious and largest cultural developments. Originally announced in 2012 by the Hungarian government, the Project aims to transform the city’s long-neglected Városliget (City Park) and its surrounding area into an art and culture district, including five new museums. Nestled among the trees of the City Park, said to be one of the oldest public parks in the world, and overlooking Városliget lake, the House of Music is the first of these five to open its doors to the public.
Hungary has a long and proud history within European musical traditions. From folklore music whose roots can be traced back to Central Asia to famous classical composers such as Franz Liszt, Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, György Ligeti and Zoltán Kocsis, Hungary has long been a center of music in Europe. The museum needed to balance honoring that legacy with a modern museum suited to the needs of a 21st century audience.
It’s therefore perhaps unsurprising that Japanese star architect Sou Fujimoto was tasked to design the House of Music. Internationally recognized, Fujimoto is known for his delicate structures and permeable enclosures. His design, selected from among 170 international proposals, reflects his general philosophy of creating possibility and diversity of experience through architecture. He believes that a balance needs to be found between the architecture, the building as such and its environment, including the people who use it and its history. Despite having buildings across Japan and Europe, including designing London’s Serpentine Gallery pavilion in 2013, Fujimoto has previously stated that every architect dreams of designing a modern-day museum, which must not only provide spaces for exhibition, but also performance and teaching spaces as well among others.
Speaking specifically about the House of Music, Fujimoto said, “We were enchanted by the multitude of trees in the City Park and inspired by the space created by them. Whilst the thick and rich canopy covers and protects its surroundings, it also allows the sun’s rays to reach the ground. I envisaged the open floor plan, where boundaries between inside and outside blur, as a continuation of the natural environment.”

Visiting the museum today, the integration of the House of Music into the surrounding park is beautifully realized. Incredible glass panels, some of them measuring 12 meters high, bring the park into the museum, while the white waved roof – calling to mind sound waves – has around 100 round openings within it to let in natural light. Indeed, from a distance the roof, which is below the canopy line, resembles a large mushroom nestled among the trees – although the original inspiration was a lotus root. Walking through the museum’s open spaces as the light streams in from all angles, you look up to see over 30,000 geometric shapes resembling tree leaves on the suspended ceiling, giving the impression of strolling further into the trees.
The building, which was widely considered one of the most anticipated architectural projects of the year, has already won an award, even before it was officially open. It won the Music Cities award for the best Use of Music in Property Development/Real Estate; the Music Cities awards aim to promote best practice and demonstrate the value of music to the world.
And music – as much as nature – is the central focus of the museum’s 9,000 square meters of space, spread across three floors echoing the three movements of a musical score and connected by a spiral staircase reminiscent of a nautilus shell. From the hemispherical sound dome that offers a 360degree surround sound experience as over 31 loudspeakers create walls of sound to the open-air stage, which incorporates natural trees by varying the height of the roof, the museum is an incredible experience for any music lover.
The museum offers both interactive permanent and temporary exhibitions, the permanent one allowing visitors to travel through 2,000 years of European music history. There are also indoor concert halls for live music performances of all genres, and educational spaces for workshops, including a multimedia library and a club. Suffice it to say that the House of Music cements Hungary’s place as a musical and cultural center in Europe.