Earlier this year, Finnish architectural firm JKMM won the international, open and anonymous design competition for Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design. The winner, out of 624 entries, was announced in September.

The competition asked each competing agency to design a new museum building of approximately 108,000 square feet, to be located in Helsinki’s historic South Harbor. The goal was to create a landmark waterfront museum and provide a setting for world-class cultural activities.

© JKMM / Mir

JKMM’s submission respected the cultural landscape of  South Harbor, preserving important views from Tähtitorninvuori toward Market Square and Katajanokka, while establishing a clearly recognizable new landmark. Its planned recycled brick façade, surrounding terrace and sculptural architecture will bring warmth and a strong connection to the city.

“I hope that the planning and realization of the new Museum of Architecture and Design can show the way for how new things can be built responsibly and with skill,” said Samuli Miettinen, founding partner and principal designer, JKMM. “Architecture and design are deeply human, they are born from dreams and longing, and they gain their meaning in the places where we can experience and live together.”

© JKMM / Mir

The location for Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design is a vacant former dockside site in the South Harbor, a historic waterfront area in central Helsinki, close to landmarks including Market Square, Alvar Aalto’s famous “Sugar Cube,” the Orthodox and Lutheran Cathedrals, and popular Esplanade Park. The building site and the area around it is a designated buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of The Suomenlinna Sea Fortress.

The new building will house exhibitions drawn from the museum’s collection of more than 900,000 artifacts, including objects, correspondence, models and photographs. Artifacts document the work of internationally famed practitioners such as Aino and Alvar Aalto, Eero Aarnio, Maija Isola, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Paavo Tynell, as well as design brands such as Marimekko, Nokia and Fiskars.

© JKMM / Mir

The next step will be to develop the new Museum of Architecture and Design into an implementable plan, together with future museum users and sustainability experts. Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design is planned to open in 2030 in Helsinki’s South Harbor, as a place connecting architecture, design and people.

Finland takes its architecture and design very seriously, and the new Museum of Architecture and Design, as well as its surrounding landscape, will surely become a much-visited destination for local and international travelers to Helsinki.