Museum of Ethnography
H-1146, Budapest, Dózsa György út 35.
Phone: +36 1 474 2100
Email: info@neprajz.hu
Opened in May 2022, the new building specially designed for the Museum of Ethnography houses a collection of over 225,000 objects from the Carpathian Basin and all corners of the world. The richness of the museum’s holdings is also reflected in the exterior of the building: its decorative façade features an innovative, modern reinterpretation of Hungarian and international motifs created from half a million pixels.
Image 1: Detail from the pixelated lattice screen on the façade of the Museum of Ethnography. Photo: László Incze
The inspiration for the design of the façade comes from the shapes and decorative features of the embroidered, woven, spun, carved, thrown, painted and engraved objects preserved in the museum’s Hungarian and international collections. Following a selection process aimed at ensuring a balanced thematic and geographical distribution, the eight-band lattice structure was created by further reducing the decorative configurations and key motifs of the chosen objects. Each band of the pixelated lattice features the patterns and structural elements of several different objects. Rather than being a faithful reproduction of folk art elements, the motifs are used in the lattice structure to form a linear pattern. The goal of the architect who designed the latticework panels was to create a piece of architecture that is itself a reflection of the artefacts housed inside it, set in an urban space at the entrance to a public park. The pixels can be regarded as kind of artistic paraphrase: during the creative process, besides abstraction, the architect has exploited devices such as rotation, reversal, reflection, magnification and reduction.
Image 2: Wooden chest, Szécsényhalászi, Hungary, R 1813
In the uppermost band of the façade, for example, the main sources of inspiration were the openwork designs found in Hungarian weaving patterns, an African carved wooden cup, and tortoiseshell jewellery from Oceania. The bottom band features engraving from a wooden chest, the appliqué decoration used on boots from the Amur region, the wax inlay on a mirror from Transdanubia, and a woven bag from Venezuela. Inspiration for the other bands in the lattice was found in a Congolese mask, a tablecloth from Cameroon, a Croatian apron, Estonian gloves, a decorated egg from Vojvodina, a best man’s wedding kerchief from Kalotaszeg, and a Mongolian shaman’s cloak.
The exhibitions housed in the new building, as well as the core exhibition currently under preparation, offer an interpretation of the museum's rich holdings, which include hand-made objects made using a variety of decorative techniques that visitors are invited to explore using an interactive digital application.
Image 3: Woven envelope bag, Venezuela, 68.175.16
The design of the pixelated bands of pattern on the façade of the new building can be seen as a genuinely playful reinvention, sparked by the twenty-first-century architectural reinterpretation of patterns observed on objects in the museum’s collections. The pixelated latticework panels envelop and enfold the building, signalling at first glance that it is home to the Museum of Ethnography.
Woven pattern, Szentes, Hungary R 8153 Sketch of a spinning pattern, Tolna County, Hungary, R 7426 Woven textile with deer design, Nagyszeben (today Sibiu), Transylvania, 7002 Featherbed border, Maros (Mureș) valley, Transylvania, 149341 Painted egg, Zombor, Hungary, 43860 Bread basket cover, Hungary, 15390 Woven star pattern, Szentes, Hungary R 8153 Best man’s wedding kerchief, Kalotaszeg (today Țara Călatei), Transylvania, 23968 Potters’ guild jug, Komárom, 43248 Embroidery pattern, Mezőség (today Câmpia Transilvaniei), Transylvania, R 19994 Woven pelican design, Szeged, Hungary, EA1365_9 Shepherd’s cloak design, Debrecen, Hungary R 9917 Textile pattern, Sárköz, Hungary R 7439 Woven knot design, Szentes, Hungary R 8153 Decorative sheet, Szilágyság (today Sălaj), Transylvania, 59.109.34 Woven pattern, Szentes, Hungary, R 8153 Wooden chest, Szécsényhalászi, Hungary, R 1813 Wooden chest with human figures, Tisza region, Hungary, 57.37.1 Mirror, Transdanubia, Western Hungary, 114969
Wooden cup with handle, Congo, 53.21.6 Kapkap jewellery, Melanesia, 35563 Woven dish, Venezuela, 68.175.79 Cut-pile raffia palm cloth (Kuba velvet), Congo, 80599 Mask, Congo, 80562 Tablecloth, Cameroon, 99.47.1 Women’s apron, Croatia, 75070 Men’s jacket, Estonia, 96011 Bark belt, Melanesia, 35777 Distaff head, Finland, 130903 Gloves, Estonia, 96101 Bamboo comb, Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea, 63941 Shaman’s cloak, Mongolia, 60.96.34 Bamboo pipe for holding lime powder, Solomon Islands, Melanesia, 73.100.1 Raffia wrap skirt, Congo, 80758 Woven bag, Venezuela, 68.175.16 Boots, Amur region, Russia, 81789 Raffia palm cloth, Congo, 80869
With the help of his inspirational illustrations, Marcel Ferencz (Napur Architect) shares the creative process behind the decorative panels. Take a look here!