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.
Area Plan
Site Plan
city center observatory hill
city center
observatory hill two story office and service area
site olympia ferry terminal
two story office and service area
site south harbor
olympia ferry terminal
south harbor
Site Conditions
Site Conditions
Office Bar
Office Bar
Public Market
Public Market
Encased Sevices
Encased Sevices
Two Bars
Two Bars
Carve Views
Carve Views
Sun In
Sun In
Moments of Arrival
Couryards
Couryards
Bridge Gaps
Final Site Circulation
Final Site Circulation
public market
to design district
to olympia terminal
to design district
to esplanadi
to esplanadi
Connect
Connect
to olympia terminal
loading/parking/hvac
by 5m high
ide 10m w
tb 15m se
e area servic e harbor earanc 5m cl w/ 5.
Site Parameters
Site Parameters
termporary exhibits and exterior courtyards
th rk plyn
ices er serv nd ov
ou ove gr
6m ab
th rk plyn
pa
ices er serv nd ov
ou ove gr
6m ab
Park Plynth
Park Plynth
new vehicular entrance new vehicular entrance under in line with bernhardinkatu st. under in line with bernhardinkatu st.
service setback to bernhardinkatu
termporary exhibits and exterior courtyards user sevices and permanent galleries
user sevices and permanent galleries
pa
loading/parking/hvac
ide 10m w
high by ge ss 5. ed5m edge r acceors rbors cula m harb vekhifro from ha ac tback 15m se ea ice ar e rv se harbor earanc 5m cl w/ 5.
cess 5.
lar ac
vehicu
directional views carved out
directional views carved out
service setback to bernhardinkatu
Adjust Site Parameters
Adjust Site Parameters
carved sunlight view to sky
nd
e grou
uch th
plynth
s to to bend
s to to bend
nd
entry plaza museum entrance
co
parking entrance
connec nal
park
tion to
connec
park
mi mpia ter
n to oly nnectio
co
sun drenched courtyards
south terrace
tion to
nal
sun drenched courtyards
entry plaza
Moments of Arrival
mi mpia ter
Break Plynth
museum entrance
parking entrance south terrace
carved sunlight view to sky
e grou
uch th
plynth
Break Plynth
n to oly nnectio
public market
Bridge Gaps
Site Diagrams
water
city park
Site
Floor 2 - Museum and Plinth
Site Section
Floor 1 - Offices
Structure
Circulation Ground Floor - Services and Public Market
Floor Plans
Museum Diagrams
The Roof
The roof offers a sense of compression and expansion in the spaces below. The roof hovers like a light canopy, and shrinks like a cave. The roof on the north end acts as an arm to pull the city to the entrance.
The Bar
The rational piece of the museum the bar houses the main entry on its north face and the performance hall on the southern end. The gallery spaces, housing permanent exhibits of artists work, follow a structural logic of alternating glulam timber representing the birch forests of Finland and concrete slab representing the rough granite of the Archipelago
The Path
The path is the connecting piece between the city and the terminals, offering an expedited route, along with resting places for the public to enjoy the harbor and museum.
The Pods
On the exterior act as the eye catching image of the museum, where as on they interior play a more insolar role hosting temporary/site specific exhibits by artists. From the bar the pods are carved in such a way to focus views on specific points in the city. Made of white granite stone shingles with a glowing glass cap, the pods portrary the skerries of the Achipelago with an inner glow of a geod.
The Plinth
Acting as a set terrace from the park to the water, the plinth provides a programmatic break between public spaces and museum surfaces. The plinth mitigates the level change between the pedestrian level of the terminals (+8.5) to the south and the city to the north (+2) with a series of park like experiences.
Sculpture Garden
Observatory Park infiltrates the with a landscaped sculpture garden.
Gallery/Retail/Dining
Occupying a key location on the water front is a series of rentable gallery, retail, and dining spaces for the public to use as an extension of the Market Hall to the north.
Offices/Services/Loading
On the back edge facing the park is where the services of the museum are located.
Ferry Terminal Loading
The ferry services of Olympia terminal are mainted by offering access in the same fashion as they had previously.
Exploded Axonometric
Historic Finnish Churchs, Church of Hollola, 1865
Hvitträsk, Saarinen and Gesellius House, 1902
Alvar Aalto, University Sanaksenaho Architects, St. ALA Architects, Kilden of Technology Helsinki, Henry’s Art Chapel, 2004 Performing Arts Center, 19` 6 2012
Roof Form Diagram
Harbor Lanterns
Bas Relief Model
Defrost
Section Model
Oculus
Wall Section
Longitudinal Section
The Bar The Pod The Path
The Plinth
Services Loading HVAC Parking Public Market
Section Model
Glacial Forest
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