competitions are a controversial topic in the architectural community, issues of ownership, intellectual property, rigged juries, potentially devaluing the profession, and the production of free labor to the competition at vast cost to the company are all topics of conversation. Regardless of those standpoints or issues, competitions also offer up designers the chance to explore new ideas, apply design skills to new problems, and if lucky enough the construction of their proposal. Guggenheim Helsinki was and is no exception to the issues above with the controversial competition being indefinitely shelved due to public outrage in the Helsinki community. Never-the-less many architects entered the competition as a chance to explore design beliefs and implementation.
The below proposal examines user interface in the 21st century as it applies to recent technological developments, the overlapping of public city space with private museum space and the visibility of art through multiple mediums. This is done through the intersection of two key components: a non-ticketed all-weather promenade, and a single flexible gallery space that twists and wraps around on itself over the promenade. The public walk can be used year round by all inhabitants of Helsinki and is the core of the museum, a climate controlled interior 'living room' for the city that both leads out to open air decks which overlook the waterfront and inward to the history and culture of art. The promenade fosters the museum experience by paralleling itself with a forest and working your way through nature, enhancing the process of discovery and intervention. The promenade also accommodates two informal stepped theaters for performance and viewing of the cultural arts.
*project executed while at OPerA Studio Architecture and under the supervision of OPerA Studio Architecture
