Budapest, Hungary

“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.’explains Sou Fujimoto.

Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto’s House of Music in Budapest seems totally incorporated in the scenery within the trees and as is mentioned by the architectural team it was designed as “a continuation of the landscape.”

This 9,000 sqm building features a huge undulating roof with 100 crater-like perforations to accommodate surrounding trees.

Inside, the House of Music hosts an array of musical experiences. It is dedicated to telling the history of music over the past 2,000 years, including exhibitions on the history of European and Hungarian music as well as concerts and educational music workshops.

Fujimoto designed the building, which is wrapped in a glass wall and topped by a large overhanging roof, to mimic the feeling of being under a tree canopy and the form of sound waves.

The building’s roof is punctuated by 100 openings, some of which contain trees, while others create lightwells that allow natural light into the building.

On the underside of the roof, 30,000 geometric shapes designed to evoke tree leaves have been set in the ceiling.

The building has three levels that are created to reflect “the three movements of a musical score.”

Its park-level ground floor is entirely surrounded by 94 custom-manufactured panels made of glass. The largest of these panels is 12 meters tall.

This largely open ground floor space contains two concert halls.

A smaller venue will predominantly be used for lectures and workshops, while a glass-walled auditorium with 320 seats will be used for musical performances.

A large basement level will contain all of the museum’s main gallery spaces including a permanent exhibition named Sound Dimensions – Musical Journeys in Space and Time, which focuses on the history of European music.

All three floors are connected by a large feature spiral staircase.

The museum’s first temporary exhibition will focus on key moments in Hungarian pop music from the 1950s to the 1990s.

The House of Music was completed as part of the ambitious Liget Budapest Project, which will see several museums built in Budapest’s 122-hectare City Park.

Project: The House of Music
Architects: Sou Fujimoto Architects
Lead Architect: Sou Fujimoto
Photographers: Palkó György