CITY OF HELSINKI REVIEWS PLANS TO BUILD A GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM

A yearlong feasibility study commissioned by the city of Helsinki to examine whether building a Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Finland would boost the city’s efforts to become a “cultural capital,” has yielded favorable results, reports Carol Vogel of the New York Times. The report was conducted by the Guggenheim and includes the following recommendations: “To build the museum on a city-owned site on Helsinki’s South Harbor waterfront, have an international architecture competition to decide who should design the building, create a midsize museum of about 129,000 square feet with 42,000 feet of exhibition space, and set it up largely as a noncollecting institution.” Vogel adds that the estimated cost of the museum would be approximately $178 million.

The city board and city council of Helsinki are set to review the report and come to decision on whether to proceed or not within the next month. Helsinki mayor Jussi Pajunen stated that “there is a lot happening in Helsinki right now and to have a Guggenheim Museum here would be a very valuable asset to art, culture, design, and architecture not just for the city but for the whole region.’’ If the city decides to go ahead with the plans, Vogel reports that it will commence with the architectural competition.