Tamás Torma
Three in One
The National Concert Hall, the Festival Theatre and the Ludwig Museum
The Palace of Arts is Central Europe's most modern arts centre. It is the
dimensions of Gábor Zoboki's block-shaped building that first catch the eye.
Geometrically cool and elegant, it provides a favourable background to the overdecorated
National Theatre into which it seems to blend when viewed from a
distance. Immense and intimate spaces are at times combined with remarkable
originality. The Palace of Arts can take on as many aspects as it has sides. While
the National Theatre unfortunately does not "look on to" anything in particular
and appears to harmonise neither with the river nor with the city, the Palace of
Arts clearly coheres with the Danube embankments at the Lágymányos Bridge.
The Palace's porticoed-pillared museum entrance opens out towards the space
defined by the two buildings and the Danube. The "house within a house" concept
owes its origins to the constant modifications of plan and function; these
eventually crystallised into uniting the Concert Hall, the Ludwig Museum and the
Festival Theatre under one common roof within the glassed-in lobby, while
retaining their separateness within the connecting cube.
Arcadom, one of the best firms in the business, unfortunately chose to put
together the glass sheeting that constitutes the "vesture" of the building out of
two and three metre sheets. Technical problems with bridging can be the only
explanation for the concrete column that so conspicuously mars the magnificent
panorama of the river from the wing of the building closest to the Danube:
there is a slight bend in the river here and it is as if we were looking back at the
famous view of the bridges and Gellért Hill from an island. The many glass rasters
and the mottled flagstones take something away from what should be a
grandiose experience. A building of this size, catering to several functions, has
several faces. For me, the least successful is the side facing the freeway of
the bridge, it most resembles a hospital, or the service side of a shopping mall.
The trendy strip-lights have been criticised but I for one like them as they glitter
cheerfully on the floodlit building.
Inside, the functions that were finally decided on (and at the last minute) have
been assembled in a dynamic and venturesome way. Zoboki built from within,
making the inner functions his starting point: the concert hall, ultimately the
most important unit, projects spectacularly and roundly into the rectangular
world of horizontal and perpendicular lines. The lobby may sometimes give off
the strange feeling that we have arrived at a logistics centre, but that is quickly
dispelled by the attendants, who politely usher us onwards.
The heart of the building is the National Concert Hall, 25 metres high,
25 metres wide and 52 metres long, home to the National Philharmonic Orchestra
led by Zoltán Kocsis, the National Choir and the Music Library. It has a
total capacity of 1900, including room for 136 standing. A further 160 seats can
be placed on the stage if needed. The shoebox shape defines the architectural
character of the building, yet it does not seem angular: gentle inclines and elevations
lend the hall variety: what it most resembles is the nave of a church. The
orchestral podium is located in the open auditorium, mobile units allow for the
stage to be arranged in three different sizes, as well as an orchestra pit if
required. An acoustic canopy extends over the auditorium, with mobile wings
which can be raised, lowered or revolved as required. Similarly mobile are the
84 adjustable reverberation chambers on three levels, which embrace the Hall.
Their plaster reliefs - painted in the "trecento" colours of blue, brown, green, red
and yellow - are the work of the sculptor György Jovánovics, who worked with
Russel Johnson to create a design that would not interfere with the acoustics. The
hall can also be curtained off for piano recitals or pop concerts, when minimum
reverberation is best. The close care and attention to acoustics have definitely
paid off and the Hall comes to life when the music starts to play.
The Hall's focal point is the organ designed by Hungary's Pécs Organ-building
Ltd. with Germany's Mühleisen. The massive instrument has 7,700 pipes and cost
600 million forints (almost EUR 2.5 million). Between the organ and the stage, the orchestra seating
clearly displays the full
range of pale green velvet
covers on the cherry
wood seats. The flooring
of the Hall is in Chilean
cherry wood, the balcony
fronts and ceilings
in Canadian maple.
State-of-the-art audiovisual
systems for film
projection and special
lighting effects are also
provided; CD and DVD
recordings can be made
in the adjacent studios.
The Ludwig Museum
has the prime location in the building, overlooking the Danube. Its entrance area
includes an Internet café with a view all the way up the river to Gellért Hill
and the Liberty Statue. The museum's design, which incorporates the work
of specialised consultants such as the Austro-Hungarian CCC+Bogner and the
UK's Lord Consulting, includes illuminating ceilings, which are a type of
suspended ceiling that diffuses light across the whole surface. The first floor
houses temporary exhibitions, the second and third floors permanent exhibitions
from the museum's own collection.
Adjoining the exhibition areas are projection
rooms and interactive demonstration
rooms equipped with computers, as well
as a reference library.
The eastern third of the building holds
the Festival Theatre with a capacity of 450.
Its technical facilities make it suitable
for classical and jazz concerts, dance
productions and fashion shows as well as
drama productions. The Festival Theatre
comes complete with a stage floor that
includes a rotating disc, within which
are two smaller circles that can be raised
or lowered. It is also equipped with a
complete flying system for set flats and an
adjustable stage opening that can be
widened or narrowed, depending on the
specific needs of the production.
Tamás Torma
is an editor of arts programmes at Hungarian Public Television.
