Hungarian Natural History Museum

Each of us develops an image throughout our lives of the surrounding world, both the immediate and the vast nature, including ourselves within it. The new Natural History Museum Debrecen, in the 21st century, aims to socialize this inner image, enabling both individuals and communities to navigate the flood of information and find their place in the created world. Debrecen, the natural center of Hungary's eastern region, has long had the Great Forest (Nagyerdő) as a firm backdrop to the city's civic urbanization, the university, culture, and sports. The slowly drying oak forests of the plains have given much to the city, and now it is time for architecture to return something to the surrounding nature. The planned museum's organic-crystalline structure reflects this new relationship: the building grows into its environment like a coral or a marsh, blurring the boundaries between the built, and the natural. The park and garden weave further within the building and on the roof. As though we were hiking in the Great Forest, every generation, family, and community will find its place seamlessly in the various exhibition spaces. Beyond the exhibition themes, the building itself, with its subtly immersive spatial world, educates visitors towards environmental awareness.