A ‘WOVEN’ LANDSCAPE
10 Dec 2014
A design for the new Helsinki Guggenheim Museum fuses art, recreation and nature, weaving pedestrian and bike paths, while it submerges into the landscape.
Around the world, Guggenheim institutions have become famous for their iconic architecture and unique spatial configurations. A recent competition for the new Helsinki Guggenheim Museum has attracted a record breaking 1,715 submissions with six exciting finalist designs revealed this month.
“Wovenscape” by Toshiki Hirano features a loop which weaves a pedestrian path, bike pathway and other urban networks of Helsinki and intertwines it with the Guggenheim's high quality collections and their cultural and educational programs. Its simple circulation system enables visitors to easily tour through the entire space while also creating a cultural epicentre of the city.
“It fuses art, recreation and nature by providing space for art installation projects, fostering various waterfront recreational activities, educational programs and having greenery in the extension of the Tähtitorninvuoren Puisto Park. The gallery is cantilevered in the north and the south end to emphasise the museum's configuration, while it submerges into the landscape on the park side to maintain continuity with the park," the designers commented.
The project also features extruding light cones which create an iconic figure of the museum. The light cones function as wells, bringing light into the atrium space during the day and emitting light from the interior outwards at night.
Each finalist will be given an additional briefing to develop its scheme further and produce physical models. A winner will then be announced in June 2015, with a start date for the project yet to be confirmed.
