Previously Unseen Finalist Designs Go on View in Helsinki Beginning April 25 in Free, Immersive Public Exhibition of the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150415/198909

At the core of the exhibition are the six designs that the independent, eleven-member competition jury unanimously selected to be finalists in the competition for a proposed Guggenheim museum in Helsinki. The architectural teams behind the proposals had from December 2014 until April 2015 to develop the designs further in response to feedback from the jury and insights gained from an in-depth briefing in Helsinki. The exhibition Guggenheim Helsinki Now makes available to the public the six fully developed designs, including much of the information that will be presented to the jury next month when it meets to select a winner.

Visitors to the free exhibition will be able to explore and imagine the possibilities proposed by the six finalist teams, view fifteen designs newly announced as honorable mentions by the jury, and interact with installations that present analyses and interpretations of the data compiled from the record-setting 1,715 submissions to this open, international architectural competition. A concurrent series of public programs, designed to engage a range of age groups, will offer additional opportunities for the public to learn about and discuss the ideas and issues raised by this unprecedented initiative.

Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation, said, "We hope this exhibition and its programs will inspire the Finnish public to engage with the possibilities of a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki, and to think about the potential of a prominent site on their waterfront. We are proud that the Guggenheim has generated these innovative approaches to the role of art and architecture in the future cityscape. We are especially grateful for the cooperation of the City of Helsinki, which decided to make the site available, and for the endorsement of the local supporters who made this competition possible. Now, through this exhibition, we offer the public an opportunity to dive into the kind of thinking that the jury will do as it prepares to choose the winning design."

Guggenheim Helsinki Now presents the final 3D building models and concepts developed by the six finalist teams: AGPS Architecture Ltd. (Zurich, Switzerland and Los Angeles, United States of America), Asif Khan Ltd. (London, United Kingdom), Fake Industries Architectural Agonism (New York, United States of America; Barcelona, Spain; and Sydney, Australia), Haas Cook Zemmrich STUDIO2050 (Stuttgart, Germany), Moreau Kusunoki Architectes (Paris, France), and SMAR Architecture Studio (Madrid, Spain and Western Australia). In accordance with European Union procurement rules, the finalist designs have not been matched to the teams and this information will not be known to the jury or the public until the winner has been selected.

Also on view are designs chosen by the jury for honorable mention, by the firms ACXT-IDOM (Bilbao, Spain), BUBE (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York, United States of America), Francisco Jorquera – Elena Campos ( Palma de Mallorca, Spain), Helsinki Zurich Architecture Office Ltd. (Helsinki, Finland and Zurich, Switzerland), Ja Architecture Studio (Toronto, Canada), KUTONOTUK (Virginia, United States of America), Labics (Rome, Italy), Mark Hackett Architect (Belfast, United Kingdom), No.mad Arquitectos (Madrid, Spain), Nug Architects (Barcelona, Spain), Nuno Brandão Costa (Porto, Portugal), Projekt Praga (Warsaw, Poland), Studio Fountainhead + MGG (Copenhagen, Denmark), and Viar Estudio Arquitectura (Getxo, Spain). The identities of the honorable mention firms are made public in accordance with European Union procurement rules and with the permission of the teams. The full submission materials presented by the honorable mentions can be viewed at designguggenheimhelsinki.org/exhibition.

The Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition is organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in consultation with the City of Helsinki, the State of Finland, and the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA). The competition manager is Malcolm Reading Consultants (UK). Guggenheim Helsinki Now: Six Finalist Designs Unveiled is curated by Troy Conrad Therrien, Curator, Architecture and Digital Initiatives, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, with Ashley Mendelsohn, Project Assistant.

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation thanks BMW, Finnair, Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation, Guggenheim to Helsinki Association, Louise and Göran Ehrnrooth Foundation, and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland for their support.

The Kunsthalle Helsinki is run by a private foundation supported by various artist and art organizations, including the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), the Finnish Association of Designers Ornamo, and the City of Helsinki. For more information, visit taidehalli.fi/en.

Competition website: designguggenheimhelsinki.org
Exhibition website: designguggenheimhelsinki.org/exhibition
Project website: guggenheimhki.fi
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