| Client | Guggenheim Art Museum & Foundation |
|---|---|
| Location | Helsinki, FI |
| Scale | 20000 m2 |
This Helsinki South Harbor is a place of duality and of movement energies. It is also a context dramatically transformed through the change of seasons. Helsinki derives a large part of its identity from the constellations of isles and inlets, from huge ships and boats, and, from a quiet, reserved European urbanism. In this visual landscape, one finds rather easily the hierarchy of places of importance –the church spires, the City Hall and the view point on the hill - all cultural and philosophical points of reference in the Finnish capital. There exists a definite duality of perception, however, from the City to its port, and from the port to the City.
Our proposition is to locate here, in this Helsinki South harbor, a remarkable object, a ‘tower of art’, a ‘LIGHTHOUSE’, a cultural reference, assimilating forms and patterns of its phenomenology and its mystery. We place here a tower that resonates with its context, asserting its position and hierarchy, while at the same time capturing the identity of Helsinki itself.
The visual and architectural identity of the new Guggenheim Helsinki evolved from both the phenomenology of the place and the movement energies we perceive to be an important aspect of the port. It is an ‘organism’ with a movement spine, functional ‘appendages’ and a ‘skin’ that transforms according to the needs for light, opacity or any gradation within. Wood is the everywhere present theme in the gallery interiors, as both a neutral, tactile material and cultural point of reference.
Based on the primary need for heat in this geographic position, and Finland’s limited fossil fuel reserves, we propose here TRIGENERATION as the basis for the Guggenheim Museum’s ecological platform. Natural gas will fuel turbines, and from their exhaust heat will be recovered to steam generators, which, in turn, will produce electricity. Chilled water will also be a product of the process, and, therefore we expect TRIGENERATION will provide up to 90% efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases by up to 25%.
The Tower we propose not only as a VERTICAL BROWSE, but also as a light monitor, or light ‘funnel’, which will bring diffused light from above, filtered into the gallery spaces. Air will be moved up through the Tower atrium, creating a ‘stack-effect’ for a more natural air flow, with computer controlled operable roof vents, to help cool the gallery in the summer months.