A-D, NEW MUSEUM OF ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN, HELSINKI – FINLAND, 2025

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION
3TH PRIZE 

THE NEW A-D MUSEUM BUILDING IS PLACED AT THE POINT OF CONTACT BETWEEN THE URBAN TRACE OF HELSINKI AND THE PROMONTORY’S OROGRAPHY TOWARDS THE SOUTH.
THE BUILDING, THAT FACES THE SEA, DEFINES A CLEAR URBAN MOMENT – OF LAND AND WATER – MADE OF WIDE SPACES INTENDED FOR GATHERING, MARKET AND OF DOCKING AREAS. RESPECTIVELY, TOWARDS THE SOUTH, THE ‘SAARET’ PROJECT BRINGS TOGETHER THE GREEN AREAS OF ULLANLINNA/KAIVOPUISTO PROMONTORY AND THE WATER LINE.
OUR PROPOSAL STARTS FROM HERE AND FROM THE WILL TO FIND WITHIN THIS CONDITION ITS OWN URBAN AND TERRITORIAL DEFINITION AND INTEGRATION.
THE BUILDING IS DEFINED FIRST BY THE TRACING OF TWO FACADES. THE FIRST, NORTH FACING, USES THE MAXIMUM DIMENSION IN WIDTH (49 M), LOOKS AT THE MARKET, THE TOWN HALL, THE CATHEDRAL AND THE CITY; DEFINES A LARGE SQUARE AND WELCOMES VISITORS IN A COVERED EXTERNAL SPACE PLACED AT THE CLOSEST CORNER FROM THE SEA. THE SECOND FACADE, SOUTH FACING, IS DEFINED BY A MINIMUM DIMENSION (5M), IT DEVELOPS VERTICALLY, LOOKS AT THE TÄHTITORNINVUORI PUISTO AND THE OROGRAPHY OF THE PROMONTORY; IT RELATES TO THE UPCOMING BUILDINGS OF ‘SAARET’ AND ITS NEW URBAN SPACE. 

THE BUILDING STARTS FROM THE NORTH AND DEVELOPS TOWARDS THE SOUTH … OR VICE VERSA.
THE GEOMETRY OF THE CITY ON ONE SIDE, THE OROGRAPHY OF THE PROMONTORY ON THE OTHER.
THE VISITOR’S PATH AND THE ENTIRE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE RESPOND TO THIS TERRITORIAL TRACING.

THROUGH THE SEQUENCE OF EXHIBITION SPACES AND LOBBIES THAT RUN THROUGH THE BUILDING, THROUGH PUNCTUAL OPENINGS LOOKING TOWARDS THE CITY, THE PARK AND THE SEA, THE VISITOR TAKES WITH HIM, TOGETHER WITH THE CULTURAL EXPERIENCE OFFERED BY FUTURE EXHIBITIONS, THE SPATIAL EXPERIENCE OF A PRECISE TERRITORIAL LOCATION: THE ARCHITECTURE, THE CITY AND ITS TERRITORY.
THE A-D REVEALS ITSELF AS A SPACE OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION BUT ALSO AS A PRECISE ELEMENT OF THE DEFINITION OF THE EARTH’S CRUST.

Collaborators: Andrea Langlois, Alessandra Cavallaro, Camilla Maitan, Emanuele Zanichelli
Team: Strukturatelier, AOR, Granlund, Ains Group
Images: © Filippo Bolognese