Fresh dressed antiques – buildings in buildings
Posted by Katalin Török · Mar 25, 2014

Series about architecture’s versatile buildings – Budapest Music Center: modern nest for contemporary music, built on a 1890 residential building.

Modern architecture often means destroying the past and creating something completely new. Fortunately, it doesn’t always work this way – sometimes creating new means keeping what’s good and composing it into novelty. In my mini series, I’ll show you some buildings that are two in one – they’re not only interesting because of their use, but also the way they’re structured.

Budapest Music Center is the first institute I’d like to introduce you, which opened in March, 2013 as a new cultural center dedicated to music. It’s a fresh construction, which for the first look doesn’t seem different from modern buildings at all. It has versatile functions: in addition to being a music information center, and home of the Peter Eötvös Foundations, it’s also the headquarters of BMC Records – with several rehearsing rooms and it’s own recording studio -, and contains two concert venues - Opus Jazz Club and a concert hall designed especially for chamber music.

The music information centre has been collecting and making information about Hungarian classical and jazz musicians and about contemporary compositions available world-wide, since 1996. In the new location, BMC’s constantly growing collection can be searched in the open library, which contains approximately 90 000 books, notes, and records.

The 4000 squaremeter building fits perfectly to it’s neighborhood – located near Kálvin Square, it’s space and interior design combines 21. century modernity with neoclassical architecture. The house was built on the territory of a 1890 residential building, which seems to have disappeared, but thanks to the designers, it didn’t have to fade away without trace. The 120 year old building was in fact rebuilt, its inner courtyard’s walls have been kept to become visually and acoustically beneficial parts of the new concert hall. Yet noone would tell the building has old parts, since modernity shines through the walls with variable functions.

Opus Jazz Club has its own restaurant with delicate dishes, and it offers unique concert programmes. Not only Hungarian musicians, but international star performers and the genre’s finests play here night after night. It’s a perfect place for business meetings as well, with high fidelity audio devices and a projector to showcase one’s work.

The bigger concert venue takes place in the center of the building. This has the walls of the once-was dwellers building. Built of limestone and bricks, the walls give the room a unique atmosphere. Natural light is guided into the building, and the adjustable stage gives performers the opportunity to change the space however they wanted. There’s a stockroom next to the stage and also under it – where a piano can be hidden when not in use.

The sound system in the building is remarkable. Opus Jazz Club, the stockrooms and the concert hall are all connected with the rehearsing rooms upstairs and also with each other. Given there’s a recording studio on the storey, not only live performances are available to record, but several bands can practice without disturbing each other.

Talking about upstairs – above the concert halls, the building has a lot more to offer. The library and the headquarters of the Peter Eötvös Foundations take place on the first floor, and the rest of the building demonstrates that it’s dreamt by a musician. The owner and main designer, László Gőz – a trombone player and academy professor himself – aimed to create a place where musicians can not only give concerts then head out to some other venues, but where they can take their time, practice, rest, and focus on creating new music as well. To reach this goal, he designed several rehearsing rooms as well as a few apartments to make sure everyone gets the relaxed working conditions they need. A conference room with an open garden on the top is the coronation of this idea, and these facilities make it possible to hold courses, lectures and meetings.

In 2014, BMC became a new concert venue for Budapest Spring Festival – if you want to visit the building, now is the good time to look for tickets.

For further information, visit the following web-sites:

Budapest Music Center

Budapest Spring Festival

Peter Eötvös Foundations

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