National Gallery and Ludwig Museum Budapest

The concept for the New National Gallery and the Ludwig Museum was created based on the very structure of the city and its many dichotomies. The profound metaphysical relationship between earth and water resonates with every human being, the same way that art resonates with society. Protection and conservation are vital cultural aspects of both society and art, implying a deep connection between ideas and emotions.

The proposed layout for the new museum highlights an existing axis on an urban scale. The axis starts with Városligeti Boulevard, goes through Ötvenhatosok square, then onto the House of the Hungarian Music, finally connecting with Erzsébet királyné. This axis, like the Danube river, becomes a core element of the entire concept, around which all the different parts of the project are united. Instead of viewing the axis as empty space between the two museums, it becomes a spatial element visitors can use to navigate around the museum.

This concept is particularly relevant for a contemporary art museum, as curators are becoming more and more interested in the similarities between what we experience within the four walls of the museum versus “the outside world”.