Construction is set to start on Sou Fujimoto's porous and undulated Hungarian music venue in a pastoral setting in Budapest's largest park beside Városliget Lake. 

Called House Of Hungarian Music, the project is being developed as part of the Liget Budapest project, which also includes SANAA's new National Gallery of Hungary, selected in 2015, alongside other projects including: Museum of Ethnography by French firm Vallet de Martinis, DIID Architectes and the Photo Museum Budapest and Museum of Hungarian Architecture by Hungarian firm Középülettervező Zrt.

Fujimoto won an anonymous competition for the scheme in 2014, first the building was planned to be opened to visitors in March 2018, but the project has seen many delays for the construction so far. The building is expected to be completed in 2020. 

Developed as Europe’s largest cultural development project, the project will include a concert hall, a lecture room, rooms for teaching, a digital library and an open-air stage. The House of Hungarian Music is being built on the grounds of the former Hungexpo office buildings, and thousands of square meters of green space will be restored to the park.

The building is designed as virtually transparent, environmentally-friendly structure which seeks to create a harmonious transition between the natural and built environment. 

The side walls of the building will be made of special glass, creating a feeling of openness, as if one was walking in the open air. The design will include many modern and green solutions, especially in the areas of ventilation, and the use of rain water and electricity.

"Thanks to its diverse and wealthy selection of programmes that will be worthy of Hungary’s musical past and present, as well as its outstanding personalities, the new institution will be an important forum celebrating the greatness of music. The institution will aspire to fulfil its mission through its permanent music history exhibition, a colourful range of temporary shows tuned in to the many notes of musical art, as well as dance houses and a wide array of events throughout the year," stated in a description by the House of Hungarian Music.

A so-called "sound exhibition" will also be hosted here to let visitors tap into the magic of composing music. This musical ‘palace of wonders’ utilising special installations and technical solutions will help visitors to experience the birth of musical harmony and the physiology of sound perception.

"Our project finds its shape naturally among the trees’ crowns. Its circular volume levitates gently, turned to every direction, freeing out the ground floor to welcome people from all around, while its perforations let the natural light through, just like the sun rays breaching between the leaves of a forest," said Sou Fujimoto. 

"Surprising encounters punctuate one’s route, just as the unexpected notes of a melody, following an uninterrupted movement, up, down, around, inside, outside, the same flow binding softly together museum, park, people and music, making the visitor’s experience unique," Fujimoto added.

Video courtesy of Liget Budapest

All images © Varosliget Zrt 

> via Sou Fujimoto / Liget Budapest