Cimbalom Circle

Located near Budapest’s House of Music, signed by architect Sou Fujimoto, the work pays tribute to Hungary’s musical legacy. At the center of the artwork is the Cimbalom, a stringed instrument invented in Budapest in 1874. People walk a tune, play their own games, or dance, creating ever-evolving contemporary compositions  with traditional sounds.

Cimbalom Circle was inaugurated in January 2022. As a key attraction of Liget Park, the artwork joined the permanent collection of currently Europe’s largest urban cultural development.

The Cimbalom Circle system has 36 interactive units embedded in concrete tiles, each including a sensor and a responsive light ring. Place your foot, wheel, hand… on a sensor to play a note. Tap multiple sensors to play arpeggios. Explore alone or with others to compose many melodies – the rhythms depend on the distance between the sensors played. Step on one sensor, then another, then another and create a loop, drawing patterns of music, and light, with your feet.

Music emanates from the ground as if by magic. The sound system comprises in-house tailored speaker tiles developed to have no visible hardware, resist outdoor conditions and blend into the pavement pattern.