Hungary is set to welcome a new Natural History Museum in Debrecen, replacing the current museum in Budapest. Plans for the building, blending architecture and nature, have been unveiled.
By 2030, Hungary’s officials plan to transform the city of Debrecen, located in the East of the country, into a regional hub for education and culture. With that in mind, a former sports ground on the northern edge of Debrecen’s Great Forest will be welcoming a new Natural History Museum which will replace the current museum in the country’s capital Budapest.
“Natural history is a subject dear to me – so dear that I named my oldest son Darwin; To that end, it is a great honor to have been entrusted with the authorship of the Hungarian Natural History Museum in the Great Forest of Debrecen,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director at BIG.
The new 23,000-square-metre museum has been commissioned by the Museum and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation. It will house permanent and temporary exhibition halls, educational and research facilities, and public amenities. The design for the building has been confided to BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group, who’s also in charge of the new Bhutan airport amongst other projects) in collaboration with Vikár és Lukács Építés Stúdió, Museum Studio, and TYPSA.
“Our design is conceived as an intersection of paths and lineages. Intersecting ribbons of landscape overlap to produce a series of niches and habitats, halls and galleries, blending the inside and the outside, the intimate and the mastodontic in seamless continuity. The result is a manmade hill in a forest clearing; geometrically clear yet softly organic – an appropriate home for the wonders of the natural world,” explains Bjarke Ingels.
Outdoors and indoors overlap
The first images of the future building have been unveiled and show an interesting mix of architecture and nature. The design consists of three overlapping ribbons, rising from the forest floor, with a timber façade. As the roof will be covered with native tress and other species, it will become part of the forest’s ecosystem.
“Rather than simply preserving the site, the building restores and enhances it – regenerating biodiversity while quietly adapting to its surroundings,” BIG partner Hanna Johansson said.
The interior consists of six exhibition wings, a reception hall, a library, and a restaurant overlooking the forest canopy. downstairs, a learning hub integrates a space for workshops and research labs. The thermal mass of the ground allows for on-site energy systems, including geothermal loops. Complemented with photovoltaic panels, a stable indoor climate is guaranteed year-round.
