An 11-member jury representing the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has selected six finalists, from a record-breaking 1,715 submissions, in the contest to design Guggenheim Helsinki in Finland’s capital.
In order to maintain the integrity of the selection process, the names of the finalists won’t be matched with their respective designs (which were submitted anonymously) until next June, when the winner will be announced. The competition allows the finalists to fine-tune their designs up through March 2015.
The finalists are:
• AGPS Architecture Ltd., with offices in Zurich and Los Angeles
• Asif Khan Ltd., in London
• Fake Industries Architectural Agonism, with offices in New York, Barcelona, and Sydney
• Haas Cook Zemmrick STUDIO2050, in Stuttgart
• Moreau Kusunoki Architect, in Paris
• SMAR Architecture Studio, in Madrid and Western Australia
The winning design will be awarded the equivalent of $136,000, and each of the five runners-up will recive $75,000.
In the jury’s statement, its chairman, Mark Wigley, a professor and dean emeritus at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, noted that each finalist “offers a distinctive and original way to create new public space for Helsinki, and each challenges the Guggenheim to develop unprecedented models of museum planning.”
The jury shared some observations about what it liked about each design, and what it was less enamored of:
Entry GH-04380895 was singled out for the way it grouped its pavilions that blended into the city’s fabric, and how it used natural light. The jury was “skeptical” about this design’s roofscape, as well as the placement and size of galleries.
GH-1128435973 was praised for its “internal flexibility and external effect.” Its low form yet pronounced silhouette “was considered particularly interesting.”
GH-121371443 was lauded for its “simple but extraordinary” design that integrated image and technology. However, the jury felt its internal program was “too diagrammatic.”
GH-5059206475, whose design is based on an old store house and uses materials from existing buildings, “creates close relationships with its surrounding.”
GH-5631681770 pays particular attention to public space, and the potential exhibition spaces “were considered authentic.” The jury liked the design’s “non-stereotypical” approach.
GH-76091181 uses timber elegantly, and includes a “memorable” courtyard design “with circuits of independent galleries.” But the jury questioned the use of lifts as well as the galleries’ configurations.
Related Stories
| Sep 22, 2014
USGBC names 2014 Best of Buildings Award winners
The Best of Building Awards celebrate the year’s best products, projects, organizations and individuals making an impact in green building.
| Sep 20, 2014
Healthcare conversion projects: 5 hard-earned lessons from our experts
Repurposing existing retail and office space is becoming an increasingly popular strategy for hospital systems to expand their reach from the mother ship. Our experts show how to avoid the common mistakes that can sabotage outpatient adaptive-reuse projects.
| Sep 19, 2014
Smithsonian Institution opens LEED Platinum lab facility
The Charles McC. Mathias Laboratory will emit 37% less CO2 than a comparable lab that does not meet LEED-certification standards.
| Sep 19, 2014
8 hot healthcare projects win interior design awards
Winners of IIDA's 2014 Healthcare Interior Design Competition include Perkins+Will, AECOM, Buffalo Design, and SmithGroupJJR, for projects from Cincinnati to Toronto.
| Sep 18, 2014
Final designs unveiled for DC's first elevated park
OMA, Höweler + Yoon, NEXT Architects, and Cooper, Robertson & Partners have just released their preliminary design proposals for what will be known as the 11th Street Bridge Park.
| Sep 17, 2014
Arquitectonica's hairpin-shaped tower breaks ground in Miami
Rising above Biscayne Bay, the 305-meter tower will include three viewing decks, a restaurant, nightclub, and exhibition space.
| Sep 17, 2014
Atlanta Braves break ground on mixed-use ballpark development
SunTrust Park will be constructed by American Builders 2017, a joint venture between Brasfield & Gorrie, Mortenson Construction, Barton Malow Company, and New South Construction.
| Sep 17, 2014
The doctor is in: New consortium to fund research of design's influence on public health
The AIA Design & Health Research Consortium has organized its design and health initiative around six evidence-based approaches.
| Sep 17, 2014
New developments in data center design
From the dozen or so facilities housing Google’s 900,000 servers to the sprawling server farms of Facebook to Amazon’s seven sites scattered around the world, today’s data centers must accommodate massive power demand, high heat loads, strict maintenance protocols, and super-tight security. This AIA Discovery course is worth 1.0 AIA CES HSW learning units.
| Sep 17, 2014
New hub on campus: Where learning is headed and what it means for the college campus
It seems that the most recent buildings to pop up on college campuses are trying to do more than just support academics. They are acting as hubs for all sorts of on-campus activities, writes Gensler's David Broz.