The Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design Foundation, in partnership with the Real Estate Company ADM, has unveiled the five designs shortlisted for the international competition aimed at offering Helsinki a new venue highlighting architecture history and design. This new museum, to be located in the historic South Harbour, has received global interest, with 624 anonymized submissions reviewed since September 2024. This announcement marks the completion of the competition's first phase, as all successful entries will advance to a second stage, receiving a financial award to refine their concepts.
The competition seeks proposals for a 10,050-square-meter museum that will harmonize with the city's urban and historical setting while embracing sustainable and low-carbon solutions. The shortlisted entries will now proceed with more detailed development, reflecting input from both jury feedback and public opinion, which remains open for comment until January 31, 2025. The jury, consisting of international experts, will continue to assess these designs based on both urban presence and their potential to fulfill the museum's aspirations.
The winning entries, still anonymous and recognized by their names, "96 Tyrsky," "351 Kumma," "486 Moby," "545 Tau," and "616 City, Sky and Sea" represent a diverse range of ideas, each promising to offer something unique to the museum's mission. The designs aim to create a space capable of hosting a wide variety of exhibitions and events, aligning with broader cultural and architectural goals set by the foundation. The shortlisted projects are also expected to participate in workshops that will address the functionality and sustainability of their proposals.
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Caruso St John Architects Wins Competition to Renovate Philip Johnson’s Kunsthalle BielefeldThe competition, which invites further development from the shortlisted teams from February until the end of May 2025, will conclude with final results announced in September 2025. The awarded entries will receive significant monetary prizes for their innovative and practical solutions that best meet the museum's objectives. The aim is to create not just a museum, but a dynamic space that evolves with its audience, promising to enhance Helsinki's cultural.
RegenerateThe new museum represents a generational opportunity for the architecture and design sector in Finland, and it arrives at what feels like a moment of wider intellectual and cultural reckoning. The requirements, the need, and the opportunities are profound and enormously exciting. The jury leaned into the challenge, interrogating the vast body of proposals to identify this truly exceptional shortlist. These are intriguing projects that feel both timely and timeless, a shortlist of buildings that I hope Finland will be beguiled by. - Gus Casely-Hayford, jury panel member and Director of V&A East
Across the world, museums are planning expansions and changes to their spaces, constantly readapting them to contemporary needs and expectations. In other similar news, David Kohn Architects and noAarchitecten have won an international competition for the redesign of the SMAK Museum in Ghent, Belgium, while Caruso St John Architects have been commissioned with the renovation of Philip Johnson's Kunsthalle Bielefeld in northwestern Germany.
