Hungarian Natural History Museum

PRAGMATIC PROGRAM BARS — The museum's program is organized into thee functional zones: exhibition spaces, public areas, and back-of-house operations. These zones are arranged in parallel 28-meter-wide bars, ensuring a clear spatial rhythm that balances public accessibility with behind-the-scenes functionality.

GIVING BACK TO THE FOREST — Where human intervention once cleared the land, the museum now restores it. Green pockets and planted roofs return the site to the forest, fostering biodiversity and creating new habitats for native flora and fauna.

RADIAL PROGRAM ORGANISATION — Rooted in the idea of a flexible and independent exhibition space, the museum unfolds in a star-shaped plan that responds in all directions to its forest setting. This radial layout blends inside and out, supporting a 360-degree experience of nature and culture.

DESTINATION AND CONNECTIONS — The museum’s geometry extends like pathways into the woods, inviting movement from all directions. At its highest point, a lookout offers panoramic views across Nagyerdő, transforming the museum into both a destination and a point of orientation within the forest.

A NEW MUSEUM — The new Hungarian Natural History Museum becomes an intersection of forest, city and science.

CONTEXT INTEGRATION — Blurring the line between building and landscape, the museum takes on a low, undulating form that nestles into the terrain. Partially embedded in the ground, the structure’s ribbons offer a controlled climate for exhibitions while merging with the surrounding forest.

RESPONSIVE FACADE — The museum’s façade adapts to its dual context—balancing the controlled interior conditions needed for artefacts with a visual and physical openness to the forest. Transparency, shading, and materiality shift across the structure to mediate between nature and the exhibition environment.