Sordo Madaleno, in collaboration with építész stúdió and Buro Happold, has been selected to design the 43,000-square-meter New Debrecen Collection Center for the Hungarian Museum of Natural History. Debrecen, Hungary's second-largest city, is currently the focus of significant urban and university-related development, including plans to relocate the Hungarian Museum of Natural History from Budapest to the edge of Debrecen's Great Forest. The proposed Collection Center is conceived as a facility dedicated to the controlled storage and study of more than 11 million objects, drawing conceptual inspiration from traditional Hungarian clay vessels, structures historically used to protect and preserve. The project would mark the first European cultural commission for the Mexican architecture practice, which operates studios in London and Mexico City.
The site is located within the University of Debrecen Science Park, approximately four kilometers from the planned new Natural History Museum building. Informed by research into regional craft traditions and material histories, particularly the longstanding use of clay and earthenware for conservation, the design takes the form of an elongated rectilinear volume measuring 141 by 83 meters. Its stratified brick façade incorporates varying tones that reference Hungary's geological and material diversity, using soils sourced from different regions of the country for brick production. These variations articulate the building's monolithic presence, which is intended to relate to the surrounding low-lying landscape and expansive horizons.
The proposal is organized to support controlled storage, research activities, and the long-term preservation and production of knowledge. The spatial layout spans three above-ground floors and a basement, comprising approximately 28,000 square meters of collection storage, 6,000 square meters of study spaces including conservation laboratories, and a triple-height atrium designed to accommodate visiting student groups and research professionals. Within a top-lit atrium, selected items from the museum's collection are envisioned for display, forming a gallery space adjacent to lecture halls that could also host events. In workspaces used daily by staff, controlled daylight and ventilation are introduced through internal courtyards to enhance environmental comfort.
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Forum, Depot, Maze: Toward a Plural Ecology of MuseumsSelected from a shortlist of twelve teams, the jury highlighted that the proposal by Sordo Madaleno, építész stúdió, and Buro Happold addresses the functional requirements of a scientific support institution through its spatial organization of storage, study areas, and laboratories, while prioritizing long-term collection preservation and research operations. The jury also noted the project's attention to sustainability, security, and logistics related to collection handling, positioning the Center as a potential hub for scientific research and international collaboration across disciplines, including geology, paleontology, zoology, human activity, and ecology.
The Center's staff are stewards of the objects, and the architecture becomes anextension of that stewardship. Within this layered ecology of care, the object isframed not as an isolated artefact but as an embodiment oflife-worlds andlandscapes that nourish reciprocal relationships. Our building reflects this mutuality,providing a space of unity between conservator, stakeholder, architecture, andenvironment. — Architect Fernando Sordo Madaleno
Other recent developments in cultural architecture include construction updates on Snøhetta's Busan Opera House, scheduled for completion in late 2026; progress on Herzog & de Meuron's Memphis Art Museum, expected to open in December 2026; and the start of construction on the Beijing Art Museum in Tongzhou District by Snøhetta and the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD). Recent openings include the New Museum expansion in New York by OMA and a museum dedicated to the science of carbon fiber in Fiorenzuola d'Arda, Italy, designed by CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with the late architect Italo Rota.
