Concept Description

A clear set of priorities were established early in the design process for the new Guggenheim.  There are countless museum prototypes, most of which tend toward form giving.  What is it about this site, this program and this client that will make this building unique and timeless?  It cannot, must not be preconceived.  It must be rational and rigorous, heedless of fashion or style and above all a place where we would like to be.  While it is reasonable to expect that the Helsinki collection may one day rival the New York collection, that is not an easy task in the short term.  It means that the container must serve as a catalyst for the future, an invitation to perform on a large stage in an environment that encourages the world’s most creative people.  For however brilliant they are, it is not reasonable to assume that Finland’s artists can sustain this museum alone.

There are clues, some obvious, some not so obvious, as to how to begin the design process.  First is the site: It is complex, with no two sides parallel, two major axes and a highway adjacent.  It has spectacular views of the harbor, yet has no adjacencies.  One would think that a curvilinear building in harmony with the road would be a reasonable place to begin.  It is not.  In the final analysis the road is a relatively arbitrary cut in the landscape.  Speeding traffic may have a great deal of presence, but is not a design generator.  If anything, one might consider turning one’s back to the road.  The key to this site is its length and its overall size.  A tight, tall building would appear out of place and naked.  The site demands that the building be horizontal.  And the site demands that the building faces the water.  If a reasonable connection to the park to the west is to be made, the building must rise high enough so that a bridge may cross the highway.  And if a multistoried building is envisioned, how can one maximize the views?

This building has been conceived as a series of long,  rectangular lofts, interrupted by a crank beginning at the intersection of the two axes.    It's entry is obviously adjacent to the crank at the north end.  The elegant solution is found in section and the notion that space and light will permeate.  Stepping up and away gives a grand opportunity to look down on open galleries below. And taking the challenge of the use of wood, a long span structural system of glulam beams and columns allowing all the galleries to be free of walls is, as well, an elegant solution.  Furthermore, the spaces above the steps are all galleries, the spaces below the steps, the nitty gritty.  And by extending a flat roof over the entire space, a very grand atrium ties the whole thing together.  The circulation system becomes obvious as well.  

In the final analysis, this building explains itself, and that is a good thing.