Planned SANAA Architect Project in Hungary to Be Turned Into Public Parkland

The Tokyo-based architectural firm SANAA’s plans to build a New National Gallery in Hungary have been axed. The decision was made by the country’s new government, which came into power in May with the newly appointed prime minister Péter Magyar. A decree published on June 18 put all construction work to a stop.

The new gallery was part of the Liget Budapest Project to restore Hungary’s historic Városliget, otherwise known as City Park. SANAA won the competition to build the gallery in 2015. The minister of transport and public works, Dávid Vitézy told The Art Newspaper that the gallery “will not be constructed in [the] City Park” and that the government “must develop a new plan for the future location of the Hungarian National Gallery.”

The Hungarian National Gallery is currently situated across the Danube River in the Buda Castle, where it has been since 1975. Vitézy argues that the castle is not a suitable location for the Hungarian National Gallery as it does not “fully meet the standards required for the long-term operation of a modern national art gallery and the safe preservation of its collection.” The future of a new gallery is still unclear and will soon go under “a professional review,” according to Vitézy.

László Baán, who oversaw the creation of a New National Gallery and acts as the combined director general of the Hungarian National Gallery and the Szépművészeti Múzeum told news site HVG that he was optimistic that the SANAA realized project could find a new home. He added that the most sound solution in such circumstances would be to renovate Duba Castle, which would require a big budget and a time span of eight to 10 years.

Tamás Don, president of the Hungarian section of AICA (the International Association of Art Critics) has questioned the motive of moving work from the Hungarian National Gallery. “There are many unresolved questions. Why should the Hungarian National Gallery move out of Buda Castle? If the reasons are the limitations or obsolescence of the current building, is relocation really the only solution?” he said. 

When the plans for a New National Gallery were realized more than a decade ago, Baán’s ambitions were to house Hungarian and international art made after 1800 together, while the Szépművészeti Múzeum would display Old Master collections. But the SANAA gallery project has made some locals contemplate what the completion of the building would have meant. Gallerist Erika Deák told The Art Newspaper that “Hungary is not in the financial or mental position to finish such a gigantic construction now.”