The form and character of the building we proposed was derived from the following key metrics:

• The urban context, and from a desire to establish an accessible and clear connection back to the city.

• The establishment of a link with the water, allowing the harbour and its islands to read as the backdrop from within the building.

• The scale of the urban frontages around the harbour, which establish a very strong edge to the city in relation to the water: the building is formally distinct from the prevailing urban grain, signifying its position in the harbour area as a cultural building.

• The enhancement of the views of the harbour from Tahitornin Vuori park.

Description of the Project

This was a competition entry for a new museum for the Guggenheim Foundation on a prominent harbour site in Helsinki. The promoters of the competition described the intent for the museum as follows:

“The museum would focus on artistic process, using the institution as a platform to connect the public with artists and their practices. Audiences will interact with a dynamic roster of scholars, artists, and innovators, enjoy the best of the Nordic design-thinking sensibility, and actively contribute to the larger cultural experience by participating in the conversation that will ultimately formulate the identity of the institution and what it means to be a part of this community. The museum and its visitors will have the chance to help define the new model of museums going forward by combining elements of a traditional
exhibition hall, a strong emphasis on creative process, and acting as a catalyst for social change, drawing an important and sizable audience from many parts of the world.”

• Establishing access from Tahitornin Vuori park via a dramatic pedestrian walkway, thereby creating an ‘art route’ across the city, mediated by the museum.

• The proximity of the working port to the south: consequently, the main galleries and social spaces are protected from the fumes and noise of the port by being orientated away from it, and towards the city.

• The local climate, and by the proposition that all the spaces within the museum must be fully useable for the whole of the year. This suggested that the museum should ultimately comprise one over-arching form, within which various elements of the building are made legible.

• Climatic influence is also interpreted in the use of a deep plan under a single enclosure, with light filtered through multiple elements of glazing and glass tubes.

• The creation of spatial drama within the building; this is derived from a simple and expressive main enclosure created from a repetitive pattern of large, timber clad structural ribs.

• The provision natural light to all areas: the ‘arc’ of northern light is exploited in the design – from N-W through N to N-E – in order to maximize natural light within the building throughout the year.

• The use of timber on the major structural elements: this provides a clear signature for the building, rooting it in Helsinki, and in Finland, and is also a signature that can be read at the scale of the harbour.

• The use of timber at this scale also resonates with Tahitornin Vuori Park, which forms the backdrop to the new building when viewed from the city and the harbour.

• The creation of an Event Piazza in front of the building, for social interaction, installations, exhibitions and events, left predominantly as an open, ‘neutral’ space, for interpretation and use by artists.

• The importance of the social spaces within the building, and of clear movement through the building, as a driver for organizing the building, mediated here by a central space that runs the full length and height of the building, with all the galleries being visible from this space.

• The notion of galleries as open floor plates, using flexible display systems, with rotating screens defining ‘open’ and ‘closed’ conditions, for change over periods, forming part of the curating of exhibitions.