The main concept of our proposition for the New Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki is a reinterpretation of the different characteristics of the city; the port, the park and the roofs. The project is organized around a metaphoric duality between an autonomous semi-public area on the ground floor (the parc) and, on the upper levels, an introspection space dedicated to exhibitions and terrasses (the house). These characteristics offer a wealth of interactions and atmospheres for the programs to which they are affiliated.

The building is strongly contextual, it shapes the skyline of Helsinki in a roundabout way. Roofs create a building-landscape supported by a series of posts, as hanger. The roofs serves also as a technical element, it acts as a protection regarding the sun and the Finnish climate, it retrieves rainwater and the photovoltaic panels collect solar energy throughout the day with their multiple orientations.

The roofs down to the park, keeping the perspective to the city. It lead the eye towards the horizon while reflecting the sky. This system of roofs is also used for the new terminal and can become a common «vocabulary» for the future development of the port.

The use of wood as the main structure promotes the use of local material and helps to create a unique atmosphere. This element supports the establishment of a threshold around the building. Multiple wooden posts that support the building create interactions on the ground floor where people could walk in the same manner as in the woods in a flexible and falsely randomly.

The project is developed on the ground floor along the banks, creating a quality public space between waterfront and Museum activities. An imposing hall marks the main entrance located on the parvis in direct relation to the market in the North. The public space is then developed on either side of the building and meets on the south, focusing flows of different access as well as from the park. The porosity of the base is increased by the introduction of a unique flooring, creating an in-between space, erasing the boundaries on the ground floor.

The entrance of the museum distributes a major place of sociability in the project, the multi-purpose area, that acts as the main catalyst flow in the museum. This space is a real articulation between restaurant, workshop and artistic works. Moreover, technology has a ratio of ubiquity particularly present at this level of the buildings as touch screens integrated throughout the course.

On the upper levels the Exhibitions rooms are designed as large free plans. This choice allows freedom of interior design and scenography of the exhibition halls. Thanks to the wood ceiling structure. The filter and slightly tinted glass are inclined to set up a serene atmosphere, very different from that which can be found on the ground floor and used or not by scenography.

The strength of the project is to succeed in creating a porous relationship between the differents atmospheres, visible from the inside and the outside.