623 Competition Entries revealed for Finland’s New Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki

The Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design and the Real Estate Company ADM have revealed details of the 623 designs submitted to Stage 1 of their international open design competition for a new museum building in Helsinki’s South Harbour.

The open call for entries ran from 15 April to 29 August 2024 and asked for conceptual proposals for a new 10,050 sq m (GFA) museum building on a prominent and historic site on Helsinki’s South Harbour. All entries were submitted anonymously and will now be assessed by an international jury of leading architects, cultural experts and policymakers before a selection of finalists is invited to progress to Stage 2 of the competition in December 2024.

The new museum of architecture and design in Helsinki, Finland, is planned to open in 2030 and will combine the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki. The newly-formed collection will contain over 900,000 artefacts, including objects, correspondence, models and photographs documenting the work of internationally-famed practitioners such as Aino and Alvar Aalto, Eero Aarnio, Maija Isola, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Paavo Tynell, and design brands such as Marimekko, Nokia and Fiskars.

The central mission of the new museum will be “democratising the tools of design”, drawing on the history and present of Finnish and Nordic architecture and design to guide a programme of public activities that will look at how design thinking and skills are relevant to the challenges we face as individuals and societies in a rapidly changing world.

Between 3 and 5 entries will be selected to progress to Stage 2, where concepts will be developed into viable proposals. The entrants selected for Stage 2 of the competition will be notified in December 2024, with Stage 2 opening in February and running until the end of May 2025. The final result of the competition will be announced in September 2025.

Each team selected for Stage 2 will receive a payment of €50,000 in two instalments: €30,000 at the beginning of Stage 2 and €20,000 on completion. At the end of the competition the Jury will award prizes of €50,000, €35,000 and €25,000 for first, second and third place, with purchase options of €20,000 for the remaining two designs.

Selected material from all entries: http://competitiongallery.admuseo.fi

New Museum of Architecture and Design Competition