Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)
Imre TAKÁCS: The Upgrade Programme for the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts
and exhibition. There must be many more in private ownership and hiding in the successors of old manufacturing companies. Finding these and entering them into the museum’s collection will, in the coming years, give a vigorous boost to the whole initiative and of course will rescue valuable art works from loss or destruction. Through this research and collecting work, we could increase the collection several fold within a few years and establish a permanent and effective base for researching and displaying Hungarian design history and current design output. IV. The architectural plan The conditions of the international competition launched in May 2012 set a complex task for the architects. First of all, they had to find a way of rescuing and restoring the architecture of the Lechner building before it decayed any further. Almost as important was the need to render the old building capable of today’s museum functions. A building which - as was foreseen in 1897 - is more of a standalone work of art than an architectural framework for exhibitions will require some subtle interior transformation before it acquires these new and essential capabilities. It must be a place which catalyses the public’s encounter with art works. It must allow exhibitions to be studied in depth, but also leave visitors with good memories and the feeling that the time they spent in the museum was pleasant as well as useful. The decision to complete the back corner, left out of the construction in 1896, stemmed from need to increase exhibition space and accommodate the idea of a design museum. On this narrow plot of land, looking on to a side street, a new building will accommodate the machinery of modern operation, the transport end-points, the terminal, handling areas and temporary stores for transporting art works. This will relieve the Lechner building of service and administrative burdens and the confusion of work-rounds that are such a serious part of the museum’s current problems. At the same time, the upper storeys of the new wing clearly suggested themselves as the location for prestigious exhibition spaces with utterly unconstrained museological opportunities. So we were looking for an office and machine room, but much more besides. As we formulated the requirements, it became increasingly clear that there could be no symbolic return to the past. Reconstruction of a historic building only makes sense as a forward-looking development, and must fit into a new and modern construction. The competition requirements therefore dictated that the new wing should not in any way imitate Ödön Lechner’s inventive style, and should take no account of the detailed hundred and ten year-old plan for the site. Instead, it should complement Lechner’s work with the forms and techniques of modern architecture. Assessment of the 32 valid entries to the international architectural competition was completed in August 2012. The jury awarded first prize to Vikár and Lukács Architects, who signed a contract to produce the permission plans that autumn. These have 19