Prékopa Ágnes (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 29. (Budapest, 2013)

Imre TAKÁCS: The Upgrade Programme for the Budapest Museum of Applied Arts

art which fills the entire length of the Ki­nizsi Street wing, the court works of the Esterházy Treasury and the works of art from around 1900 are the main anchors. The plan devotes substantial floor area to the Baroque era and the 19th century, and to East and South Asian art. The latter is in the fortunate position of having its perma­nent exhibition in the main floor of the new wing, which offers the freest possible in­stallation facilities, as also enjoyed by the Design Museum. In deference to the mu­seum’s late 19th-century heyday, the art nouveau exhibition takes up the central lo­cation of the upper gallery surrounding the Glass Hall. This space has the great advan­tage of approaches from both the wing showing 19th-century styles and the halls of Asian art (Tab. VI). The Design Museum, embracing both historical and contemporary design, occu­pies the second and third floors of the new wing and is accessible both from the other exhibition spaces and its own entrance. The new wing’s own main passage, which leads from the second (garden) public entrance, has a promising potential role in indepen­dent Design Museum events (Fig. 17-18). The side corridor system of the old wings will accommodate a row of cabinets with varied and varying content fitting in with the thematic scheme of the exhibi­tions. Another function of the cabinets will be to present artistic techniques. Also here will be special information spaces with content and interactive devices targeted at various groups of visitors - children, young people and visitors with disabilities and other special needs. As visitors make their way through the permanent exhibitions - which can take several hours - they will come across rest areas at the intersections of the main thematic units where they can re-gather their strength and consult infor­mation facilities to help them plan their route. At the lowest level of the old building’s small courtyard is a conference hall, with separate access via the side entrance. This connects to the education centre in the side wing, an important activity zone and exter­nal connection point for the museum, pro­viding training and public education at high standards and linking up museum activity with the academic world. The plan’s friendly attitude to visitors shows up in more than the catering and other services connected to the reception area and the system of rest points between exhibitions. It is particularly apparent in the functions of the new garden being laid out in the large courtyard. Accessible from the old building and from a new fully-fea­tured public entrance, it promises to be an intimate and magical place (Fig. 19). Laid out between Lechner’s enclosing walls as a place for relaxed conversation and meet­ing people, the area is the perfect place for digesting the mass of impressions and ex­periences acquired in the museum. The restaurant opening onto the garden at the end point of the visitor route serves the same purpose. Like the library, the garden and the restaurant have the capability of opening beyond the museum’s visiting hours. We have good reason to hope that - once realized - these plans will help the Museum of Applied Arts to regain its former appeal to the Hungarian public and to become one of the most important destinations of Eu­ropean cultural tourism in the Hungarian capital. The reconstruction will increase the mu­seum’s floor area by about fifty per cent, but the public access areas will expand dis­24

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