Is there a need in Hungary for an independent museum of architecture, and if so what should it collect and how should it exhibit?
MúzeumCafé 29.
Pál Ritoók Art historian, National Office of Cultural Heritage, Hungarian Museum of Architecture: There is a great need for a museum of architecture in Hungary. Every country with a rich culture sooner or later sets up its own such institute. The aim would be to explain the development and importance of architecture’s social function, both for specialists and non-specialists alike. What should be presented is the domestic built environment, which is significant in terms of national identity, making the mechanisms of transformation understandable for visitors.
Miklós Buzás Architect, chief architect of the Open-Air Museum of Ethnography: If we think about a museum of architecture, I feel it’s important to fully consider the developments, given that the reality of architecture and its creations can only be shown in a large, open-air space. In my view the task of an architecture museum is to show what is not normally seen, the background, which forms the basis of what is created. I think it’s necessary to have an independently functioning architecture museum, which in the broadest sense would primarily be a centre for memory and understanding.
Sándor Finta Architect, president of the trustees of the Centre for Contemporary Architecture: The important social role of architecture museums is unquestionable, all the more so since today the task of an architecture museum or centre is not simply to collect, classify, protect and display objects in the orthodox sense, but also to engage in comprehensive research, to create a productive knowledge base. The collection of an architectural archive ought to be extensive, covering all the means of architectural planning, suitable for study, as well as pleasure. It should be accessible for the broad public.