Central European capitals: from Budapest to Bratislava and Prague
From Budapest to Bratislava is about 200 km, and from Bratislava to Prague is about 530 (midway is Brno with modernist and art nouveau architecture). And Bratislava is at just a one hour drive from Vienna.
The three Central European capitals attract a lot of visitors. In Summer, some of their tourist precincts are pretty crowded. Many visitors come for the beauty and history of the old city centres. But also modern architecture can be found. The new office centres and residential development for middle and higher income groups show the trends of international architecture. Offices and towers similar to what you find elsewhere in European cities. The three cities also have new architecture worth a detour.
Budapest
The most appealing new architecture in Budapest can be found in two parks. In the Városliget park we find, next to the neoclassical buildings of the museum of Fine Arts and the Kunsthalle, two really marvellous new architectures. They are the The House of Music (opened in 2022) and the new Museum of Ethnography (also opened in 2022). The House of Music and the Museum of Ethnography are just a few hundred meters apart. They represent the best new architecture of Budapest, of Central Europe. In the same park, also a new National Gallery (50.000 m2) has been planned (SANAA architects) but this may take another 5 years, or (much) more..
The new building of the Museum of Ethnography opened in 2022. Surprisingly, it closed its door during Summer 2024 to prepare the new permanent exhibition and renovated spaces early Autumn 2024 (therefor interior photos will be added later in the photo gallery). The building won a number of architecture and design prizes. The museum has a few striking features. It is largely underground, and has an arched roof with a big garden. The roof is experienced as an extension of the park. It is popular among locals and visitors, but not crowded. It has very nice landscape design, and it is a great place to relax and enjoy the environment. The top of the arch offers views of the city. Another feature is the glass façades of the sides with pixel patterns in diverse shapes that refer to ethnographic practices.
The House of Music offers a great architourism experience. It has everything. The building (9.000 m2, designed by Sou Fukimoto Architects) smoothly extends the natural park setting. The circular glass pavilion is the basis of the building that houses a variety of functions related to music. There are two performance halls, an open-air performance space, a ‘hemispherical sound dome’, and education and museum facilities. In the open air one finds a music playground for children (and adults), the café and the restaurant have large terraces. The interior is magnificent. Below ground level everything turns white, above ground level the gold colour perforated roof is a key element. Over 100 holes in the roof structure give space to trees to pass through and let light enter the building. A visit to the House of Music may be high on the architourists’ lists.
Link: https://ligetbudapest.hu/en/the-project/house-of-hungarian-music
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A third place in Budapest well worth a visit is a transformation area on the Buda side of the city, the Millenáris Park (in full: Millenáris Széllkapu - Gate of Winds). It is a modern recreational park and a cultural centre with venues for exhibitions, plays, concerts and performances. It has a well-designed large public park, children’s playgrounds and four big renovated buildings. Architecturally speaking the new National Dance Theatre (opened in 2019, 7.000 m2) is the most striking building. The Dance Theatre has two theatre halls, a chamber hall and a big open foyer.
The parks and the buildings are elements of a reconstructed site of the former Ganz Foundry factory complex (rail, power, water). The industrial history is visible in the park. Millenáris is a modern city landscape architecture, with playgrounds and cafés. A big modern public space, an urban garden rather than nature. The place is multifunctional and caters for various groups, from children of schools around the corner, to big crowds participating in events. A visit to the park is a pleasant experience – an open space for leisure in a busy part of the city, with modern designs and a feel of heritage.
Two other places in Budapest may be mentioned. First, MOL Campus. MOL Group is Central Eastern European oil and gas corporation and employs 25,000 people worldwide. The headquarters are in Budapest, in the MOL Capus building (designed by Norman Foster Architects). It is the tallest building of Budapest. What MOL Campus offers the visitor is a visitor centre with company information and presentations of sustainability, an atrium, and a visitor deck on the 29th floor of the building with nice views of the city.
Another place in Budapest that can be mentioned is Bálna (that means: whale) Budapest. Bálna was designed by Dutch architect Kas Oosterhuis. It is a striking metal-glass structure, an atrium between heritage buildings. The atrium rests over 19th-century warehouses on the Danube. It has mixed use building with cafés, bars and an gallery / event centre. Most space in the atrium is used by the Hungarian Defence information centre – the inside is rather dark and now very appealing, inless you speak Hungarian and you are interested in the military. The bars and restaurants along the Danube in the old structures, and a small park in front of Bálna make the place lively.
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Bratislava
In 2017 the Economist suggested that Tirana was the city of the former socialist bloc that had changed the most. Bratislava may be in the top-5 too. The Slovak capital experienced rapid economic development after the change of systems in 1990 and the split of former Czechoslovakia into two countries, with Bratislava as a new capital.
Bratislava’s historic core has been preserved well, but changed quite a bit anyway – it has become a tourism district. Cafes, bars and restaurant, souvenir shops, hotels, and the like, now dominate the inner city. Bratislava is a destination for Danube cruise boats, and all tourists want to see the inner city (they don’t have time to see other parts of the city). Most urban developments have been implemented along the Danube river and East of the city centre. Big new projects have been realised; shopping centres, residential blocks and towers for offices and residences. New developments in Bratislava are real estate driven, like elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, and mostly for offices, shopping malls and residential development for people with good incomes.
And developments go on. Sky Park (designed by Zaha Hadid architects) is nearing completion; the 5th and biggest tower is now under construction. All luxury apartments (‘5 start living’ is the slogan), with offices, and some shopping and cafés / restaurants at ground level.
On the first picture the SNP Bridge (Bridge of Slovak National Uprising) and UFO are visible. It is a city symbol. The bridge and the observation deck with a café have been put into service in 1972 and was renovated and reopened in 2003. The UFO deck is at 95 meters and gives nice views of the city and its new developments.
Bratislava’s best architourism destination is outside the city. A pleasant 20 km. bike ride along the Danube is to Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum. The initiators of the place were Gerard Meulensteen, a Dutch entrepreneur and art collector and Slovak gallerist Vincent Polakovič. Meulensteen donated the museum to Slovakia and then the Slovak government financed the museum’s extension. The complex was opened in 2000, and the extension in 2014.
An architecture visit to Danubiana is very enjoyable. Danubiana’s location on a peninsula in the Danube offers a great and quiet atmosphere, and the museum finds itself in a garden-river landscape. The museum offers international and especially Slovak modern art. The museum building fits very well in the environment of the Danube and the museum garden. The setting with river views is great. In the museum park you find sculptures, as well as displays on flora and fauna. Relax in the garden, experience the river breeze, the views (also from the roof terrace), the flora and fauna, and be inspired by the art in the building, the sculptures in the garden and of course by the architecture of the building and garden landscape.
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Prague
The city of Prague attracts millions of visitors annually. They come for the beautiful old town and especially for some distinctive sites like Charles Bridge. These places are rather crowded.
Prague is not a top city for architourism, but a few places with modern architecture merit a visit. The newest place to be seen is the Masaryčka building (Zaha Hadid Architects). It contains shops, offices and residences and is a major project of the big Masaryk Railway Station Area Revitalization.
In the tourist information, the Dancing House (design by Frank Gehry architects and Vlado Milunic) has been promoted a lot, and on internet one finds nice pictures of the place - generally with Photoshop editing. Reality is disappointing. The Dancing House is on a busy traffic intersection, and there is not much space to see the building without traffic. Just compare the pictures on internet with the ones below to see differneces between marketing and the real-world.. The later Gehry’s projects in Dusseldorf are more worthwhile, they are bigger and are situated in more ample public space.
The most interesting place in Prague to visit is the DOX+ complex, the DOX Contemporary Art Centre. The place is museum of modern art and is a renovated factory building. In 2008 it received a Mies Award. The place is not for aficionados of heritage - little of the past can be seen in the transformed white building. The initial complex was for exhibition, and was expanded by special areas for dance, music, film and a school of architecture. The nicest element of DOX is the 2018 extension, when an elevated event space (42 by 10 m.) was added. It provides a stage for literary events and lectures and seating. It was named Gulliver, and it is a great place. It surprises, has fine aesthetics and offers space for relaxation and wondering about the place.
