SANAA and Snøhetta tie at first place for Budapest museum bid

Japanese practice SANAA and Norwegian firm Snøhetta have both been chosen as winners in a competition to design a museum in the planned Budapest City Park, Dezeen reports.

The two firms submitted designs for the New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum, one of five planned museums to be constructed in a park just outside the urban center of Hungary’s capital. Though both were named winners, only one design gets to be built.

Both designs had one thing in common that stood out the most: sloping ceilings. Snøhetta’s design will unite the gallery and museum under a large roof that also acts as a public terrace, which Dezeen likens to the firm’s design of the Oslo Opera House.

The winning design by Snøhetta.

Meanwhile, SANAA architects Kazuyo Sejima and Rue Nishizawa described their design as “an extension of the park.” It features a roof with overlapping curved plains, and the many openings make it as “museum that fluctuates with seasonal shifts,” the firm said.

SANAA's winning design

Dezeen reports that the proposals were selected by a jury of 11 that included project commissioner László Baán, architect Eva Jiřičná, and critic Edwin Heathcote. The two teams will meet in person with the jury before an overall winner is selected.

More information about the competition, as well as the whole park development—called Liget Budapest—can be found on Dezeen.

At an estimated budget of $1 billion, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) is considered the largest museum in the world dedicated to one civilization. The superlatives don’t end there: It’s also the largest museum in Egypt, the largest Pharaonic museum in the world, and one of the world’s leading scientific, historical, and archeological study centers.