József Mindszenty Museum and Pilgrimage Centre, Zalaegerszeg

Architects: Mihály Kádár, Csaba Balogh
Text: Zoltán Dragon
Photos: Krisztina Ancza, Levente Sirokai

One of Hungary’s newest buildings for exhibitions, the Mindszentyneum building in Zalaegerszeg was inaugurated on October 23rd last year. Built with the help of the Modern Cities Programme, Mindszentyneum is a testimony to the museum architecture of the 1960s: a multi-view structure with two directions of access, a perforated, permeable building with community functions, a museum education centre, a conference room for 120 people, multi-functional rooms, a café, a museum shop, and a pilgrimage centre with rooms for spirituality. The old building, which has been renovated just now, houses the auxiliary collection and manipulation space, as well as storage rooms for artefacts, whilst the offices have been furnished on the second floor of the new building, pulled back from the plane of the façade. The modest size of the plot defined the volume and scope of the complex tasks and needs. In addition to the maximum building ratio, Konkrét Stúdió did not take advantage of the potentials of a taller building offered by the regulations: the volume of the new building reflects the old block of the adjacent Göcseji Museum. Mindszentyneum is a building full of symbols, commemorating the life of József Mindszenty, the former parish priest of Zalaegerszeg, as well as the persecution of the church by the communist dictatorship.

Client: Municipality of Zalaegerszeg
General architecture: TSPC Engineering, Konkrét Studio
Leading architects: Mihály Kádár – TSPC Engineering, Csaba Balogh – Konkrét Studio Architects,
Interior designers: Csaba Balogh, Ágnes Deigner, Levente Sirokai, Péter Sónicz – Konkrét Studio
Fellow architects and interior designers: Krisztina Ancza, Norbert Szilágyi, Dávid Toronyi, Ági Vértesy – Konkrét Studio
Exchibition installation: Csaba Balogh, Ágnes Deigner, Levente Sirokai, Péter Sónicz, Dániel Szitka, Dávid Toronyi– Konkrét Studio
Project management: Csilla Kóbor, István Márkus – TSPC Engineering
Environment: Helga Hencz – Mérnökiroda Kertművek
Framework: Tamás Máté – MGT
Climatisation: István Kistelegdi – Kistelegdi 2008
HVAC: Tamás Vörös – Perfect-Plan
Structure: Károly Nagy – Épszerkinfo
Electrical engineering: György Kapitor – Zone-Plan
Light technology: Ferenc Haász, Lőrinc Rácz – MadebyLight
Acoustics: Róbert Csott – ’95 Apszis
Public Utilities: Attila Ferencz, György Sándorfi – Linakron, Gergő Czeglédy – Perfektum
Engineering Roads: László Németh, János Tóth – Linakron
Fire protection: Róbert Kováts – Szikraeső77
Kitchen technology: Katalin Harangi – Artakim Soil
Mechanics: Tamás Varga – GEO-Linea
Environment protection: TSPC Ltd.
Environment rehabilitation: Mercedes Kissné Springer– Domi-Dór
Elevators: Schindler
Main contractor: ZÁÉV Zrt.
Management: Csilla Kóbor – TSPC Mérnökiroda
Exhibition curators: Gergely Kovács, Tímea Nemesné Kis, Zsuzsanna Bors-Bulbuk, Viktor Attila Soós, Hajnal Praznovszky, Lívia Simmer