GUGGENHEIM HELSINKI
Ground Floor
1. Retail 2. Ticketing 3. Public Concourse 4. Cafe 5. Kitchen 6. Kitchen Prep/ Storage 7. Staff Lounge 8. Maintenance/ Operations 9. Loading Dock 10. Collections Storage 11. Ferry Terminal 12. Courtyard
13. Exhibition Gallery 14. Offices 15. Public Concourse Void 16. Glass Atrium Void
17. Multi-function Classroom 18. Multi-purpose zone/ Atrium 19. Performance Hall 20. Gallery Bridge
A Public Art Concourse
This proposal for the Helsinki Guggenheim combines two key elements of the contemporary art viewing experience: the grand concourse for large-scale installations and activities, and the intimate gallery in which highly specific exhibitions can be framed and staged. Typically, smaller gallery spaces are nested within the larger form of the museum, unseen to the public eye. In this case, they define the architecture, establishing a strong presence along Helsinki’s South Harbor by creating a new rhythm of masses instead of dominating with a single shape. On the interior, a triple-height public concourse cuts through the entire length of the building, connecting the outdoor plaza to the north with the ferry terminal to the south of the site. Where the primary circulation functions as a central path on the ground floor, it flips to occupy the periphery on the upper floor. A continuous bridge runs through each of the five gallery spaces, connecting them in a large loop. Each gallery interior alternates with views onto the harbor, and thus the site is integrated and interspersed through the gallery sequence as if it were simply another canvas on the wall.
Performed while Partner at New Office Works (NOW)
Credit: New Office Works
Site: Helsinki, Finland
Program: Museum
Year: 2014
Status: Open Competition