AUTHORS VISION
The image of a city traditionally consists of a complex reality of spaces which express the
potentional of human creativity through time, a single yet multiple physical reality that fosters the interaction of different cultures. Our ambition is to engage with the complexity of this image. It is an attempt to interpret the interaction between urban perceptions, scale and experiences and to condense them into a building.
Like the character of a city, this project is the expression of this complexity of perceptions and
experiences. The two buildings are thought of as an urban condensor, a juxtaposition of multiple
“piazzas”, passageways, parts of urban fabric, and landscape. The variety of urban experiences
has been encapsulated into the two structures.
Each building of the project is composed of three fundamental elements that relate to three
different scales: THE URBAN PODIUM, THE TERRACE“PIAZZA”, and THE MUSEUM.
THE URBAN PODIUM is concieved as a large indoor-outdoor “piazza” for public gathering. It
connects the architecture to the landscape with an ingress emerging from the park. This portion
of the building relates to the human scale and the visitors can experience an open view both to
the park and to the city. The Urban Podium also contains an open platform that can function as
a “piazza” for social gatherings such as temporary exhibitions.
THE TERRACE is the evoked reinstatement of the historical “Rondo” on the site. The Terrace
“Piazza” connects the architecture to the landscape on an expansive scale, overlooking 360
degree panoramic views of the park and the city of Budapest. The “piazza” offers a birds-eye
view of the city and serves as a diverse multi-purpose outdoor space for public social gathering,
special events and entertainment, and extended exhibition space. These areas can be accessed
independently of the museum exhibitions for the benefit of continuous public occupation.
THE MUSEUM stands as a distinct landmark of the city, which rests upon The Urban Podium. It
contains the fundamental functions of the building in a multi-level, multi-purpose collection of areas, that are continually connected through open atrium spaces. The building is unified by the circulating pathways of the internal stairways and passageways that create a promenade of experiences as the visitor travels through the space. The Urban Podium directly connects the Museum to the park, and in addition, the multi-level structure offers an array of spectacular views both of the landscape and the city from within the passageways.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT
The architecture’s image is powerful, intriguing, and it shows the ability of the architectural
concept to interact and merge with the structural solution, embracing technology, nature and
distribution infrastructures as part of the same concept. The architectural configuration emerges
by the expressiveness of the aluminum foam façade, also by the two extraordinary centralized
passageways which characterize the buildings. As well, the insertion of voids act as a relationship between spaces and visual cues within the interior space, which are enhanced by their interaction with the outside.
The project provides aphysical and visual connection to the parkfrom its ground level entry to The Terrace “Piazza” as the visitor passes through The Museum via the centralized passageway.
Thedouble entrances,from the city and the park, intend to assign an equal importance to both;
the project conceives those entrances as gates “one to the other” which connect together in the
Urban Podium. The Podium Platform and the Terrace Piazza are placed in strategic locations,
facing the park as well as the city. They are accessible independently from the exhibitions. The
Terrace “Piazza” can be accessed via the internal passageway which incorporates captivating
views of the city and the park as well as points of interest and natural experiences along the
passageway. The Terrace consists of different qualities of green courts and gathering areas. The
Café and Shops are located near the public boulevard and they may be used independently
from the exhibitions as well. Displays integrated into the passageways and public spaces are
considered in addition to the exhibition spaces. The museums handling is conceived as a vertical
system, all the operations relating the handling are aligned from the basement to the upper
floor, and connected through a dedicated ‘works elevator’, a staff lift and a dedicated service
staircase.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
SITE RELATIONS
The symbolic and austere exterior of the building is, on one hand, detached but it is attentive, as
well, to relate to the urban fabric and the park as it interprets this in the spirit expressed in the competition notes. The urban insertion is achieved through the mediation of the city and the
park with the juxtaposition of multiple “piazzas”, passageways, parts of the urban fabric, and the park landscape. The buildings relate these concepts with the cultural influences of Budapest.
This project is the connection of those aspects, which go far beyond the tangible, and activate
the intersections between physical and visual space and time. In this way the apparent “closure”
of the façade is discovered as permeable and it is continuum both with the city and with the
park. In our project the future Museums themselves act as the forum of culture, a place of
excellence, a union between the functional, institutional, and social role; an urban landmark of Budapest, in its broadest sense.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
OPERATION AND TECHNOLOGY
Architectural Technology
The semi-transparent, semi-blind façade is of major importance to our architectural concept.
The innovative use of aluminum foam provides a very low density material while maintaining
very high strength. It is a highly recyclable material creating a facade that is both environmentally friendly and reflects the surrounding environment. The material provides a function for the interior space as the transparent areas of the facade provide captivating views of the park and of the city and allow natural light distribution in areas of circulation and public gathering, while providing complete light exclusion in the areas of the exhibitions.
Digital Technology
The concept goes beyond the dimensions of physical space and opens up the processes of the
museum to the contemporary scenarios enabled by digital technology. Both main entrances to
the buildings are emphasised and inviting, designed as informative gates. State of the art
technology provides a mixture between passive and interactive forms of information. Visitors,
passing through those buffer zones, are being constantly supplied with up to dated information
on the museum’s activity or spaces availability, and they can send their own reports, all in real
time. Every space and activity of the museum is capable of generating and representing information. From interaction between exhibits to events and research all can produce information and benefit from the information produced by others. The technological system acts in real time and is coordinated with many forms of expression which users can from within the museum. Interactive surfaces, façades, and other digital devices and applications are all
accessible in real time. These systems can create visualizations, data-narratives, and create
insight and awareness of the themes, issues, and visions of the physical museum exhibitions by
enhancing them with their virtual manifestations.
The technical and ecological solutions are integrated as part of the architecture in order to limit the visual impact of such systems while ensuring their effectiveness by constant monitoring throughout the building.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
SUPPORTING STRUCTURE
The structural system is composed of twin steel girders stretching across the long side of the
buildings. These girders are providing structural stability as well as creating the pathways in
which circulation of the building occurs as well as important connections regarding the museum
staff and handling. In addition, the complex apparatus of connections allow the possibility to
create large surfaces of free floors system without interuption, and through that, a maximum
flexibility in their usage. The insertion of voids act as relationship between spaces and visual cues that increase interaction between exhibits and public space as well as with the outdoors.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability or Sustainable development is a complex term often used in an imprecise way. In
its most general definition it can be defined as “development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (the Bruntland
report, 1987).
But in order to implement sustainability in a project design one has to find a way of defining the
term further. In this project the team started by doing a broad analysis looking at the general
global issues regarding sustainability through the definition given in the Nature article; Planetary
Boundaries. This gave some critical insight in the global questions that could then be related to
Budapest and the site. Further the site was examined in regard to hydrology, ecology, social- and architectural values as well as cultural heritage in order to further inform the design process.
In this proposal BREEAM was chosen as a way to provide that definition and scope of
sustainability. Since a museum building is a so called non-standard building type and must
undergo a scoping and tailoring exercise to facilitate a BREEAM assessment and rating, the
exact scope of a review is hard to foresee. Even so, the team did a broad preliminary review to
ensure that the proposal will have a very good chance to achieve the level Excellent.
Since the BREEAM-system tellS you what to look at rather than what to do, a series of project
goals was defined. The aim of the goals was to provide concrete list of proposals that could be
implemented into the design process. They also served as a checklist in order to evaluate the
proposal during the design phase and make sure nothing was overlooked. The goals were
divided into four categories in order to narrow down the range of questions and make it more
manageable. Each category was then used to synthesize the input from the different parts of
BREEAM.
In order to reach the appointed goals a series of concepts are defined. Concept is a collective
name of a series of tools to solve one or more of the goals. Some concepts work by themselves
and some are linked together. E. g. the implementation and design of a Storm water
management concept will have a big impact on Micro climate-, Biodiversity- and Recreation
concepts.
The final step is to implement the tools palette. Tools are specific objects or ideas that can be
built or implemented in the design in order to fulfill the concepts and thereby reach the design
goals. For example, the façade is constructed from recycled aluminum foam, that is an innovative and sustainable product. In the construction materials concept there are individual important energetic saving benefits. Those benefits reveal other potential advantages that are going to be, eventually, extensively studied in the second phase. The proposed architectural solution suggests the use of traditional construction systems as the steel frame structure;
however, by employing innovative products (such as the Self Compacting Concrete SCC the
termal/acoustic high-performance, or the new mixtures regarding high resistence types
especially concerning our case) which are, ecologically friendly and contribute to the
environment, by the improvement of the productivity, to a considerable reduction of construction costs. Some tools will have an impact on several concepts and can be very valuable in that aspect. A tree for example can be planted in order to provide an aesthetical value to the design.
However it will at the same time provide shade and cooling impacting the microclimate. It will
also provide habitat for animals and other plants and thereby strengthen the biodiversity. This is
the strength of using natural systems to solve the sustainability challenges in the city!
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.
© 3TI_LAB srl . Published on September 10, 2014.