GUGGENHEIM HELSINKI Project Outline: This project was completed as an individual, comprehensive studio project over the course of two quarters during the Winter and Spring of 2015. The focus of the studio was to respond to the highly publicized, Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition for a new Guggenheim museum in the South Harbor of Helsinki. We used the competition brief as an initial set of guidelines for programmatic and site requirements. We were then asked to respond critically to the brief by creating site-specific and strategic buildings that developed the South Harbor both functionally and aesthetically. Narrative: Helsinki, the glimmering capital of Finland, is set on the crenelated edge of the Baltic Sea. The landscape is jagged and rough from the years of being compressed by glaciers. The people are stoic yet friendly. The buildings are quite but inviting with a warm internal glow. This inner glow is well represented in many things considered Finnish, a cold exterior shell with a warm interior charm, like a geode. Capturing this juxtaposition in Finnish culture became the guiding concept behind this Guggenheim Helsinki project. Set in the South Harbor of Helsinki, the Guggeheim site is at the crux of many key elements in the city. It sits where a park meets the sea, where the sea meets the city, and where the city meets its travelers. The building acts as a filter between each of these elements while harnessing interactions between them. The first and foremost interaction this building generates is the longitudinal interaction between the city center to the north, and the terminals and embassy hill to the south. A massive landscaped plinth is used as public infrastructure that allows access to the water front by covering the ferry terminal and service programs. The plinth connects the city center level of +2 meters to the terminal pedestrian level of +8.5 meters. The plinth then performs a second transverse interaction between the park and the sea, by terracing from the park side down to the water front. The plinth then performs its third act by providing the resting place for the museum program. The museum acts as the filter between each of the city elements. The back area of the museum is the rigid and rational piece of the museum acting as the foil between the park and the water. These spaces host services for the museum as well as permanent exhibits. The pods then ooze from the bar as the byproduct of the filter and are carved to capture specific views of the city, framing the city as art. Formally the pods appear similar to the large skerries one sees in the Archipelago. The pods are made of shingled granite on the exterior and wood slats on the interior with a tall glass cap as a skylight that emits the inner glow to the exterior. This idea of inner glow in Finnish culture transcends the material concept of a rough exterior and inviting interior by stimulating interactions between elements of the city and cultures. These interactions are what can be attributed to the true glow of the city, and this project offers new spaces for these interactions to take place.
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