Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)
Imre TAKÁCS: The Upgrade Programme for the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts
To the left of the entry point range the spaces serving visitors’ comfort and entertainment: the cloakroom, the extensive museum shop, the museum café with its Walter Crane wallpapers and interior terrace, and the toilets. To the right, up to the central axis of the Kinizsi Street frontage are the research and service rooms of the National Library and Archives of Applied Arts and Design, a prestigious and fitting location for academic research, education service areas, the public library, the permanent exhibitions on the upper stories, the sunken temporary exhibition spaces under the Glass Hall (Fig. 16), the Glass Hall itself and through it to the garden and restaurant. The 500-capacity Glass Hall remains the museum’s central events hall. It is here that opening ceremonies and events will be held, and with acoustic and light controls, the hall will also be able to accommodate con18. Upper exhibition area of the Design Museum, visualisation plan, Vikár & Lukács Architects Studio Ltd., 2012-13 and deeper enquiry. The library’s spacious reading room can be approached from two directions: via the side entrance independent of the museum’s opening hours, or through an internal passage for visitors to the museum during opening hours. The library and archive stores lie on a hidden lower ground floor of the side wing (Tab. III-IV). The central filter role of the foyer is reflected in the system of stairs and lifts: it is the starting point of public routes to the certs and fashion shows connected with the Design Museum programme. The grand hall on the first floor, with the musical instruments exhibition, will also be capable of hosting chamber concerts. The bulk of four permanent exhibitions will be arranged around the two full circles of the first floor, in an order reflecting the hierarchy of collections and the fact that we are not teaching all art history, but the substantial slice of it which our collection permits. The museum’s strengths, the Islamic 23
