19. May 2020

Gold metallic fabric: the calling card façade

As a Hungarian diplomat in Southeast Asia, István Zelnik collected art and cultural artifacts from the Southeast Asian region. In a historic villa in Budapest, he found the right setting for his private collection of art and cultural artifacts and had the building converted into a museum. For the façade cladding of the glass annex, architects Atonic Design Kft. selected gold-colored metallic fabric from GKD – GEBR. KUFFERATH AG.

In nine exhibition rooms on two floors, 1,000 exhibits from over 2,000 years relate the history of Southeast Asia, Hinduism, Buddhism and maritime trade in the Southeast Asian Gold Museum. At the center of the collection, which is one of the largest in Europe, were gold and silver objects, hence the name of the museum. The stated objective of the exhibition was to link the history and present of Southeast Asian culture. Just two years after it opened in 2011, the museum was forced to close for economic reasons. What has remained, however, is the architectural visualization of the exhibits with metallic fabric from GKD. A total of 230 square meters of Omega 1520 mesh with bronze-coated weft wire convey the gleam of the exhibits to the skin of the glass annex. The functional and aesthetic properties of the metal fabric speak for themselves: The warm sheen of the metal stands in distinct contrast to the old walls of the villa. In the evening, the fabric panels mounted in strips are further enhanced by illumination. Thanks to their function as effective solar protection, the woven skin prevents the exhibition rooms from overheating. The panels are fixed in place using the proven Fusiomesh NG system. With its shimmering golden façade, the Southeast Asian Gold Museum remains one of Budapest’s visual gems.