New Budapest mayor blocks construction of SANAA-designed New National Gallery

2019-12-03T18:08:00-05:00

Plans for Hungary’s landmark New National Gallery—conceived as the centrepiece of the rising Liget cultural quarter in Budapest’s City Park—hang in the balance after the city’s new centre-left mayor, Gergely Karácsony, moved to block its construction.

After the international design competition for Budapest's New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum resulted in proposals by Snøhetta and SANAA tied for the first prize in April 2015, the latter team, headed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, ultimately won the commission later that year, beating out a star-studded shortlist that also included entries by Jean Nouvel, David Chipperfield, Mecanoo, Renzo Piano, and Nieto Sobejano.

"Construction on the €250m New National Gallery, designed by Japanese architectural firm Sanaa, was due to begin in early 2020 after two years spent refining the designs," reports The Art Newspaper.

First glimpse: SANAA wins over Snøhetta for Budapest's new National Gallery + Ludwig Museum

2015-12-01T15:21:00-05:00

SANAA ultimately won the commission to design the new National Gallery and Ludwig Museum in Budapest, currently scheduled to open in summer 2019. The redesigned museum building is part of the larger ambitious Liget Budapest Project that will revamp and expand the city's 200-year-old City Park, or 'Vársoliget'.

First announced in 2014, the project — which claims to be the largest project of its kind in Europe — will add five new museum buildings previously reported at a cost of 75 billion HUF (approx. $268.8 million).

Back in April, SANAA and Snøhetta tied for first prize out of a star-studded shortlist that would've made the commission anyone's game. It included Ateliers Jean Nouvel, David Chipperfield, Mecanoo, Renzo Piano, and Nieto Sobejano.

The competition jury then met with SANAA and Snøhetta and further evaluated each proposal based on "contractual conditions, the quality of co-operation with the Hungarian party, technical content, scheduling, costs,...and economy." The renovated...

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New Budapest mayor blocks construction of SANAA-designed New National Gallery

First glimpse: SANAA wins over Snøhetta for Budapest's new National Gallery + Ludwig Museum