Would it be worth establishing a museum quarter in Budapest and if yes, where?
MúzeumCafé 18.
József Finta, architect: Budapest has grown beyond its railway stations and consequently the tracks penetrate the city fabric like a rough knife. The case of Theresa Town and the Western Railway Station is perhaps the most tragic – the area is becoming slum-like and is undeserving for the city centre. Unification of the two districts along the railway lines would be the only solution. Plans for such were already made in 1998-99. If a green promenade were to conduct pedestrian traffic from the centre to the Zoo and Heroes’ Square over the railway lines and by a transversal great gesture to the Körönd, connecting the area from Lehel Square and Szinyei Merse Pál and Bajza Streets, the Theresa Town upgrade could begin – that is the goal. The Museum of Ethnography hardly fits its present location, the former Supreme Court. A new museum quarter could in reality start with the Museum of Ethnography. There is no actual Museum of Architecture today and although there is some organisation and a research unit it completely lacks exhibition and storage facilities.
Zoltán Cselovszki, chief architect of the City Centre-Leo-pold Town (5th district): Before I express my opinion about a well-known town development plan, I would like to present a simple urban development principle which I refer to as the ‘principle of two buckets of water’. The contents of two buckets can only be exchanged with the help of a third. That comes to my mind in connection with the concept of a museum quarter. Nyugati Square today should be a city-centre square. Of course, the question of a PPP construction could also be raised, but I think in Hungary it has been discredited, therefore I don’t see that as a possibility. About tourism – which two tourism axes I am thinking about? Regrettably, neither can be seen, nor are they functioning. The first is a winding axis, the other is a latent one which connects Heroes’ Square with Buda Castle via Andrássy Avenue and a pedestrian bridge over the Danube. Lacking is a footbridge between Vigadó Square and the Ybl Bazaar, where the Millennium underground line could be concealed with stops under the Bazaar and the Széchényi Library. As for the foundation of museums, as a first step I think it’s important that a further two or three museums follow in the footsteps of the Museum of Fine Arts. That may result in the critical mass involving the appropriate number of museum visitors.
Sándor Finta , architect, President of the Board of the Centre for Contemporary Architecture: As things stand, Budapest claims to have 85 museums, the majority of which are unknown. Contemporary photography does not have a deserving space for presentation and instead of an independent Museum of Architecture a living platform concerned with contemporary international architecture would rather be needed. Thus the question can hardly be answered without working out a comprehensive, long-term and economically well-founded museum strategy. It is difficult to imagine that at present Hungary would be able to manage such a giant investment, and it would be definitely unsuccessful without changing the present museum structure.
Samu Szemerey, architect: The fate of museum quarters is an interesting sideline of the spectacular boom of museum construction. Hence several still bear the hallmarks of imperial, national or state representation. What could the tasks of a museum quarter in Budapest be? It can only involve such a comprehensive programme which has the role of a catalyst and largely surpasses the investments of the past decades, while generating significant structural and market changes in the Hungarian capital. A museum quarter with merely a cultural programme is not a realistic concept today from the aspects of urban development, operation or museology. A new museum quarter in Budapest would be justified if its project were not limited to the borders of the appointed area, and if didn’t hinder the life of the city within them, either.