Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation proposes building a museum in Finnish capital
January 11, 2012 by All Art News
Filed under Museums & Galleries
HELSINKI (AP).- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on Tuesday proposed building a museum in the Finnish capital after a yearlong feasibility study.
The organization said that the board of trustees approved the study last month.
“The board’s enthusiastic support reflects its conviction that moving forward to the next stage of the project would strengthen the Guggenheim network,” the report said. “It … (will) make an outstanding contribution to the cultural life of the Nordic and Baltic regions.”
The 190-page study was commissioned in January 2011 by the mayor of Helsinki at a cost of $2.5 million.
- Deputy director Ari Wiseman of the Guggenheim Foundation (L), Juan Ignacio Vidarte, head of the foundation’s global strategies (2-L), Janne Gallen-Kallela-Siren, director of the Helsinki Art Museum (3-L), the Mayor of Helsinki, Jussi Pajunen (2-R) and Deputy Mayor Tuula Haatainen (R) attend a press conference in Helsinki, Finland 10 January 2012. Reports state that a Guggenheim Foundation feasibility study released on 10 February proposes the area of Katajanokka in Helsinki’s south harbor waterfront as the site for a new museum. The City Council is to make a decision on the construction within the next few weeks. The project will also need approval by the board of the Guggenheim Foundation. If approved, the museum would start its operation around the years 2017-18. EPA/MARKKU OJALA.
“Finland’s tradition of innovation and design and its cutting-edge technology could be helpful,” said Juan Ignacio Vidarte, head of the foundation’s global strategies.
City councilors are expected to decide on the $180 million (euro140 million) project in February. If approved, the earliest the museum could open in the city of 600,000 people would be in 2017.
The total area of the museum, to be built on the waterfront in central Helsinki, would be about 129,000 square feet (12,000 square meters) with 42,000 square feet (3,920 square meters) for exhibition galleries.
The organization has several museums worldwide, including in Germany, Italy, Spain and one under construction in Abu Dhabi.
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