New Extension Called “Atlas” in National Museum of Finland by JKMM Architects

Article source: JKMM Architects

JKMM have won the “New National” two-stage anonymous design competition for the extension of the National Museum of Finland organised by The Finnish Heritage Agency, the National Museum of Finland and Senate Properties.

The Helsinki-based practice’s proposal, called “Atlas”, was selected for 1st place from a total of 185 entries which included large number of proposals from outside Finland. For further details on the shortlist and commended entries, please visit the National Museum of Finland’s page for the competition.

View Inside To Underground, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

• Architects: JKMM Architects
• Project: New Extension Called “Atlas” in National Museum of Finland
• Location: Finland
• Lead Architect: Samuli Miettinen, Asmo Jaaksi, Teemu Kurkela, Juha Mäki-Jyllilä
• Competition Team: Samuli Summanen, Marko Pulli, Marcus Kujala, Svenja Lindner
• Structural Engineers: Ramboll Finland Oy
• Mechanical & Electrical Engineers: Ramboll Finland Oy
• Landscape Architects: Loci Maisema-arkkitehdit

Inside From Underground Up, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

• Competition Team
  • Structural Engineers: Ramboll Finland Oy
  • Mechanical & Electrical Engineers: Ramboll Finland Oy
  • Landscape Architects: Loci Maisema-arkkitehdit
  • Geo: Ramboll Finland Oy
• Competition Schedule
  • 1st phase: January 10th to April 4th 2019
  • 2nd phase: June 12th to October 10th 2019
• Size of the museum garden: 10400 m2
• Size of the existing museum: 10 451 brm2
• Size of the new extension: 4 975 brm2

New Entrance, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Aerial View, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

About The Competition

The existing museum building is by the celebrated studio Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren, Eliel Saarinen and is a major landmark in Helsinki and one of Finland’s finest examples of National Romantic architecture.  The trio won the competition in 1902 and were a selected from a group of 15 entrants.

The 2019 competition brief focussed on offering: additional exhibition space; workshops; a new restaurant in the museum’s underused enclosed garden; and improved access including an inviting new entrance for the Museum. It was also important that the new Museum extension will support a dynamic programme of events whilst working in tandem with the existing building.

Main Image, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

DESIGN APPROACH

The National Museum of Finland is located in central Helsinki along the city’s main street called Mannerheimintie, opposite Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall and its parkland setting.  The Museum opened to the public in 1916, a year before Finland became an independent country.  It, like many buildings of the period, is seen as important in establishing a sense of nationhood for Finland, formerly a Grand Duchy of Russia (1809-1917). The new addition to the National Museum of Finland is an opportunity to reflect on how the notion of nationhood is understood today as suggested in the architectural competition’s title: “New National” or “Uusi Kansallinen” in Finnish.

JKMM founding partner Samuli Miettinen describes the practice’s approach,

“The National Museum of Finland is a unique opportunity to explore inclusiveness in a building and we are deeply honoured to have won the competition.  Our entry, Atlas, reinforces our interest in how architecture can enable a sense of solidarity and belonging to a place. The National Museum is a place that belongs to everyone and anyone in Finland and we thought its extension’s architectural form should be universally understood yet encourage multiple interpretations.”

The distinctive round disc-shaped white 1320 m2 concrete roof within the stone walled garden of the Museum is, in fact, so simple, geometric and even primeval in its form that it has an instantly universal appeal.

It was important to JKMM that the new addition to the Museum is independent of the original building and that it respects the historic garden designed by Lindgren. The freestanding sculptural quality of “Atlas” addresses these concerns by creating a pavilion-like structure in keeping with traditions of building types found in park-like settings.

View From Mannerheimintie, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Underneath the cantilevered 2000 ton concrete roof, the new ground floor restaurant will face the sunniest aspect of the garden and can be used independently of the rest of the Museum, as suggested in the brief.  Its walls are made of structural glass that curve around the extension creating a sense of a floating roof as well as introducing natural light to the floors below, where a generous protected stepped “public square” welcomes visitors and leads them to the new exhibition galleries and other spaces. The abundance of light plays an important role in the design and highlights the materiality and three dimensional qualities of the architecture, both in keeping with those of the original museum building.

The white colour of “Atlas” is a nod to Alvar Aalto’s Finlandia Hall just visible from the site. It is also a way to introduce light into the streetscape particularly amidst the darkness of Finnish winter.  The new arched point of entry piercing the original museum’s garden wall facing Mannerheimintie has been designed to attract visitors, yet it retains and plays on the mystery associated with what many describe as The National Museum’s secret garden. Passers-by will see ”Atlas” beckoning them behind the Museum’s garden’s stone wall giving it a subtle yet welcoming presence in the city.

The name “Atlas” refers to the idea of carrying our history and culture with us.  The suspended concrete roof clad in ceramic tiles has a celestial quality but it is also a metaphor for the world or our shared legacy.  For JKMM, it was important to find a solution that addressed the more figurative traditions of the Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen design and did so in a way that is contemporary, focussing more on the power of scale and materiality rather than the labour intensive crafted construction methods of the past; or didactic art historical references that informed the early nineteenth century design.

Miettinen concludes,

Samuli-Miettinen, Image Courtesy © Hannu-Rytky

“We wanted to create a building that will enhance visitors’ experience by improving the way they are received and the overall circulation in the Museum.  As in most of our projects, we wanted people to be able find their way intuitively minimising the need for signage and to also discover and enjoy the nearly forgotten Museum garden.”; “An essential consideration for us on ‘Atlas’ was to keep the impact of new building at ground level to a minimum and to place its bulk underground thereby enhancing the role the enclosed garden will play in the future of the National Museum of Finland.”

In total, “Atlas” spans nearly 5000 square metres which includes a 1200 square metre exhibition space.  The new exhibition galleries can also function as events spaces accommodating up to 1200 visitors.

The garden is 10400 square metres and the existing museum together with its outbuildings 10 451 square metres. The new extension will amount to 4 975 brm2.

Section BB, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Atlas-Facade, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Atlas Samuli Miettinen Early Sketches indoor 2, Image Courtesy © Samuli Miettinen

Atlas Samuli Miettinen Early Sketches Axonometric, Image Courtesy © Samuli Miettinen

Samuli Miettinen Early Sketches 1, Image Courtesy © Samuli Miettinen

Site Plan, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Section-AA, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Diagram, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Axonometric, Image Courtesy © JKMM Architects

Tags: Finland

Categories: Building, Exhibition, Exhibition gallery, Extention, Museum, space, Visitor Center

This entry was posted on Monday, January 6th, 2020 at 6:58 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.