The mix of private and public funding for the Guggenheim Helsinki has officially been rejected in a city council vote, meaning that the plans for the museum designed by Moreau & Kusunoki are unlikely to ever be built. A new financing plan that drew the bulk of public funding from the city and the rest from private fundraising had been approved by the city board in November, but was vetoed by the larger city council last night. According to The New York Times, Richard Armstrong, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation in New York, said about the vote that “I suppose that it was a reaction to a sense of engulfing internationalism, or a reaction against globalism. That’s how I’m explaining it to myself.”

Meanwhile, Helsinki City Council member and Guggenheim opposer Osku Pajamaki said that “I’m exhausted but relieved. Instead of buying a subsidiary of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, we can now focus on creating unique local cultural attractions in Helsinki.”

Officially, the Helsinki Council communications department stated that “The main objections to the project presented by Council members included the project’s excessive cost for the Finnish taxpayer; inadequate private funding; and the proposed site, which was considered too valuable for the project." No word yet from architects Moreau and Kusunoki; Archinect has reached out for comment, and will update this post should they respond.

Update 12/5/2016: Read Moreau Kusunoki Architectes' response to Helsinki's rejection of the Guggenheim's plans here.

For more on the ill-fated design and political process:

• One last chance for the Guggenheim Helsinki
• Finnish government pulls funding for the Guggenheim Helsinki
• Who are Helsinki Guggenheim winners Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki?