INNER CITY
FACTSHEET
PLACE: Helsinki, Finland
AREA: 10.600 m2
YEAR: 2024
CLIENT: Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design/ADM
TYPE: Museum
STATUS: Open international competition, proposal – ranked «upper middle» category
COLLABORATORS: Jæger/Brudvik Arkitekter
TEAM: Audun Hellemo/Kristin Hilde, Siri Jæger Brudvik
RATING
SCALE (small>large)
STATUS (idea>built)
COMMERCIAL ($>$$$)
Proposal for the new museum for architecture and design in Helsinki. The competition program asked for a new type of museum where visitors, exhibitions, museum operations and back of house would interact in new and surprising ways. Thus, the new museum is seen as a laboratory for new ideas about the city and its buildings and design. The wooden superstructure creates a flexible framework for exhibition, work and interaction and is adaptable to new spatial configurations both in short term as well as long term perspective. The facade is proposed as a collaborative effort inviting all of Finland´s design community to participate with ideas to reuse and upcycle brickwork from throughout the country in a new, inclusive building that blur the relationships between city, building, visitor and inhabitant.
An extension of Helsinki city centre, the building is a public space that connects the different programs. The life of the city is the life of the building.
The public space is used by everyone, it is where they meet: visitors, people who drop by and staff. Thus back of house is limited, it is all a part of the city.
The building establishes a flexible, structural framework that can inhabit diverse functions. Within this, separations of varying degrees of openness and transparency is introduced.
In this way borders between outside, exhibitions, back of house and public space is blurred and new spatial relationsships and experiences are created, that potentially could change from visit to visit.
The museum is a workshop, an incubator for new ideas, a workplace for the city, a public experiment. The construction system and its flexibility allow for a building that shows the production of design and architecture as a process – not just an established canon frozen in time. General spaces can easliy be adapted and connected to new programs.
The external facades are heavy and relates to the slow processes of building the city. Using recycled bricks and upcycled walls a design process involving all of Finland´s design and architectural community, the museum will be a collective effort showcasing the talent present today. The interior is a wooden structure designed for a high degree of reuse and adaptability, that both connects to Finland´s architectural history as well as looks to the future of architecture.
The new museum seen in the harbour front context
Site plan
Facade facing the harbour front
Cross section through the main atrium space with adjacent functions
Main interior space: a vibrant urban plaza connecting the different functions physically as well as visually – vistas link the interior space to important landmarks in the city
The plans show the flexible construction grid which ensures a flexible layout where functions and internal connections can easily be altered. By spreading the back of house program with the front of house program and mixing them throughout the building, new ways of working, exhibiting and exploring are introduced.
The competition attracted a record number of 623 proposals from around the world, all available for public scrutiny – making the selection process something of a global design event.
The proposal didn´t make it to the final; however it was a favourite in archi-blogger Cathal Crumley’s review of ALL submitted proposals, making it in to his final top ten list of all proposals on a very respectable 8th place. Check out his YouTube page for the entire set of reviews.