House of Music, Budapest / Sou Fujimoto Architects

The House of Hungarian Music, in the heart of the City Park of Budapest, is not only a museum but a larger vision encompassing past and future, people and culture, nature, and the sciences of music. It is not about displaying but inviting in, going away from simple contemplation to suggest participation and interactions. The essence of sound and music, hearing, can be brought in much deeper ways. Away from the conventional exhibition spaces, classrooms, or event halls, we chose to let architecture cradle the visitors along their way. With no clear path, pedestrians meander around the museum, as they would do around the park, invading the space like a continuous flow whose intensity varies along with the days, just as sound permeates space, bouncing around surfaces, running along the walls.