The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has announced today Moreau Kusunoki Architects as the winners of the international design competition for the new Guggenheim museum in Helsinki. From the start, Arup has been supporting the French-Japanese architectural practice with interdisciplinary design and timber engineering services.
The winning project “Art in the City” was selected among the 1,715 entries from 77 countries that were received for this record-breaking international design competition launched in June 2014.
The village-like concept with charred timber façade developed by Moreau Kusunoki reflects the special characteristics of the Finnish capital with its softly rising hills and myriads of skerry islands. Ten independent volumes, including a landmark tower, accommodate exhibition spaces and allow strong interaction with outdoor display, event facilities and the surrounding landscape.
"We wanted to create continuity between inside and outside spaces. The majority of volumes are on the ground floor, and the upper floors are accessible from the roof terrace creating a strong relation between the building and its natural environment." Hiroko Kusunoki and Nicolas Moreau, Principals at Moreau Kusunoki architects in Paris
The fragmented design allows the visitors to walk from the cultural hub to the city via the port promenade and the pedestrian footbridge to Tahtitorninvuori Park, while the lighthouse of the tower offers a new perspective over Helsinki.
We worked closely with the architects at all stages of the competition, contributing its comprehensive engineering and timber expertise to the overall concept of “Art in the city”. This includes the structural design of the galleries and the tower as well as the charred wooden façade, the development of the energy and sustainability concept for the project, the building services design and the lighting design for the exhibition spaces.
"The quality of the winning project reflects the close and interdisciplinary collaboration with the architects throughout the competition. The design showcases the potential of engineered timber as a local sustainable construction material. I believe the project holds a great opportunity to support a new era of timber construction in Europe with the Finnish industry as a key player in this field." Jan Wurm, Team leader for the Guggenheim competition, Arup Berlin