Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)
Imre TAKÁCS: The Upgrade Programme for the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts
sign museums whose building in itself represents contemporary architectural design. A prime example is the New York Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). Founded in the 1940s, its original “arts and crafts” activity had an affinity with traditional museums of applied art, but nowadays it has definitely shifted towards contemporary art and design. The new MAD building, opened at 2 Columbus Circle in 2008, stands out from its surroundings and is highly symbolic. That it has attracted over one million visitors so far is a testament to its success. MAD sets out above all to present the possibilities of material use and the current trends of art and design. The best-known European example in this category is the emblematic design museum of the Basel furniture company Vitra, designed by Frank Gehry. It is perhaps the clearest implementation of a building as a standalone design object, although Ron Arad’s slender sculpture building which houses the Israeli Flolon design museum opened in 2010, is another contender. These are enough to convince us that presentation of Flungarian design and fashion work and the expansion of community spaces and communication interface is crucial to the development of innovative and creative industry. Importantly, this does not concern the museum’s internal affairs or its own interests but the infrastructure of the country’s creative power, a key cultural - and no less an economic - issue for the whole of society. Fortunately, we do not have to start from scratch. There are many inventoried art works in various Museum of Applied Arts collections which fall into the design category, mainly the work of 20th-century Hungarian designers. These several thousand metal, ceramic and textile pieces, furniture, plans and other documents will serve as the basis for the design collection 12. Chairs made by József Heisler’s furniture works, 1930-35, Museum of Applied Arts, inv. no: 88.43.1-4. 18
