The experience of music

In Budapest, Sou Fujimoto designed the House of Music, rendering it an experience of immersion in musical culture and in its setting dominated by a large, wooded park

The House of Music in Budapest bears the unmistakable signature of Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. The roof is designed like a giant umbrella with undulated edges and curving, organic forms supported by a forest of pillars. It protects a glazed structure spread over three floors made for the greatest possible interaction with visitors, including an underground exhibition area, a ground area for concerts and shows, and an upper level for musical education, naturally including music classes. The House of Music clearly aims to become a new, iconic symbol for Budapest, part of a broader European cultural development project, the Liget Budapest Project. It accentuates its function both as a container and driver of creativity, giving a total experience in which the landscape, architecture, and interior design flow together through the interaction of sound, light, and nature.

The building pays tribute to Hungary’s long tradition of classical and popular music, as well as the close attention to sounds and the natural world typical of Japanese sensibilities. Fujimoto took profound inspiration from the park where the building is set. The roof seems like a large, porous fossil from above and creates a deep cantilever roof whose pillars echo the archetype of a forest. Over 30,000 decorative tree leaves are set in the suspended ceilings through a special steel structure of honeycomb elements. The large irregular openings of the cantilever roof also make room for several trees to grow up through it, interspersed by bearing pillars. Comparable openings of smaller size by the built parts let natural light stream inside. The completely translucent glass roof that covers the building is made up of 94 custom-made, thermo-insulated panels, up to 12 meters in height, underscoring the intent to blur the boundaries between inside and outside. Fittingly, the building is equipped with an innovative air conditioning system that primarily uses geothermal energy combined with renewable sources. The large roof does not rise higher than the foliage and suggests

the variability of sound waves in its undulating forms. “We were enchanted by the multitude of trees in the City Park,” says Fujimoto. “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.” Its hemispheric sound dome, an example of uncommon technological excellence, is inspired by that created for the 20th-century composer Karlheinz Stockhausen at the Universal Exhibition in Osaka in 1970, which gives 60 audience members a three-dimensional, immersive sound experience. Thirty-one speakers disseminate sound in every direction, creating an evocative “sound hologram.”

Clients: The Museum of Fine Arts Budapest, The Városliget Zrt. 100 % owned by the Hungarian State Architects: Sou Fujimoto Architects Local architect partner: M-Teampannon Architects Architect of record: Bence Varga Main Contractor: Magyar Építő Zrt. Structural engineer: Arup, RC Structure Kenese, Steel Structure Terraplan Mechanical Engineer: Lanterv& Körös-Consult Electrical engineer: Hungaroproject Interior design: Sou Fujimoto Architects, T1&Sandroza Landscape architect: Gardenworks Lighting design: Sirius Lighting Office Lighting: Design&Light Acoustic engineer: Nagata Acoustics Acoustician: Arató & Józsa Glass structures: Stokplan Building structures: FRT Raszter & Farsang-Dudinkszky Local sustainability: Abud Scenography: Animative

Author: Elena Franzoia Photo credits: Liget Budapest, Palkó György