Kiasma, National Finnish Modern Art Gallery
1993-98
Steven Holl Architects
Steven Holl's Kiasma Museum Celebrates 10th Anniversary - May 2008
Museum of Contemporary Art
The site for Kiasma lies in the heart of Helsinki at the foot of the Parliament
building to the west, with Eliel Saarinen's Helsinki Station to the east,
and Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall to the north. The challenging nature
of this site stems from the confluence of the various city grids, from
the proximity of the monuments, and from the triangular shape that potentially
opens to Töölö Bay in the distance.
sketch image Courtesy Steven Holl
The concept of Kiasma involves the building's mass intertwining with the
geometry of the city and landscape which are reflected in the shape of
the building. An implicit cultural line curves to link the building to
Finlandia Hall while it also engages a "natural line" connecting
to the back landscape and Töölö Bay. In the landscape plan,
extending the bay up to the building will provide an area for future civic
development along this tapering body of water, which also serves as a
reflecting pool for Finlandia Hall and new development along the south
edge of the water. The horizontal light of northern latitudes is enhanced
by a waterscape that would serve as an urban mirror, thereby linking the
museum to Helsinki's Töölö heart, which on a clear day,
in Aalto's word's, "extends to Lapland." The changes in elevation
proposed with the water extension and it shallow depth would allow for
parking decks and/or highway linkages which are presently part of various
planning considerations.
This water extension from Töölö Bay intertwines with and
passes through the museum. The rectangular pool along the west elevation
is the source of a slow recirculating system which gradually lowers the
water level. The gentle sound of moving water can be heard when walking
through the cusp of the building section which remains open for passage
year-round. The ponds are not intended to be drained. Instead, they are
allowed to freeze in winter according to a detail first devised by Eliel
Saarinen for the accommodation of the expansion of water during freezing.
At night the west pond reflects the internal light radiating from the
museum west pond which expresses a "spatiality of night." During
the early evening hours of the winter months, glowing light escaping from
the interior of the building along the west facade invites the public
inside.
sketch image Courtesy Steven Holl
The Helsinki Museum of Contemporary Art provides a variety of spatial
experiences. We considered the range of contemporary artwork, and tried
to anticipate the needs of a variety of artists including those whose
works depend on a quiet atmosphere to bring out their full intensity.
An exhibition space that works for an expressive and unpredictable artist
such as Vito Acconci, must also work for artist such as Agnes Martin and
Richard Tuttle. The general character of the rooms, which are almost rectangular
with one wall curved, allows for a silent yet dramatic backdrop for the
exhibition of contemporary art. These rooms are meant to be silent, but
not static; they are differentiated through their irregularity.
Particular to Helsinki is the horizontal natural light of the northern
latitudes. The slight variation in room shape and size due to the gently
curving section of the building allows natural light to enter in several
different ways. This asymmetrically drives movement through a series of
spatial sequences. In this regard the overall design becomes a slightly
warped "gallery of rooms," where the spatial flow emerges from
the combination of the horizontal light-catching section and the continuity
of the internal space. This curved unfolding sequence provides elements
of both mystery and surprise - which do not exist in a typical single
or double loaded orthogonal arrangement of space. Instead, the visitor
is confronted with a continuous unfolding of an infinite series of changing
perspectives which connect the internal experience to the overall concept
of intertwining or Kiasma.
This open-ended spatial system suggests an expanse that lies beyond, in
contrast to rectilinear organization and "centered" composition
that dictates the viewer's movement, or an expressionist dynamic that
excludes the serenity necessary for viewing some types of work. The spaces
of the intertwining curves in Kiasma avoid both the rigidity of a classical
approach and the excessive complexity of expressionism. The dynamic internal
circulation, with its curving ramps and stairs, allows for an open interactive
viewing, inspiring the visitor to choose his or her own route through
the galleries. Unlike a hierarchical sequenced or ordered movement, this
open-ended casual circulation provokes moments of pause, reflection, and
discovery.
Another concept behind the building's spaces is to create silence by eliminating
the intermediate scale in the building's architecture. In this way, the
art work can occupy the intermediate scale in contrast with the neutral
mass of the wall. Rather than articulating columns, moldings, window openings,
etc., the architecture is expressed through details such as the twist
of a door handle, the edge of a stair, the exposed thickness of a slab
of glass.
A common problem in the design of an art museum with galleries on multiple
levels is that the stacked section only permits natural light to enter
the upper level galleries, leaving the lower levels exclusively dependent
on artificial light. In the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, we address
this problem in two ways. First, the curved roof allows secondary skylights
while horizontal light is deflected down through the section along the
center. Thus natural light is able to penetrate both upper and lower levels.
Second, the curved roof section with its "refracting" skylight
introduces another means for distributing light to galleries below the
top level. Because of the building's curving and intertwining morphology,
because of the interwoven torsion of space and light, we have allowed
for the different levels to be naturally lit. There is a correspondence
between the internal nearly rectangular spaces, and the exterior's continuous
uninterrupted surface.
Kiasma also serves as an "Art Forum," open and flexible for
staged events, performances, dance, music, and seminars. The particular
placement of the cafe at ground level - open to both the garden and the
lobby - makes it adaptable to informal events, such as poetry readings
or "round table" discussions. The auditorium, equipped with
the latest video projection capabilities, has a continuous glass rear
elevation, making it visible from the outside passage through the building.
When there is a lecture taking place in the theater, this open view might
draw in observers who are walking along the passage, to take part in the
discussion. With Kiasma, there is a hope to confirm that architecture,
art, and culture are not separate disciplines but are all integral parts
of the city and landscape. Through care in development of details and
the materials, the new museum provides a dynamic yet subtle spatial form,
extending towards the city in the south and the landscape to the north.
The geometry has an interior mystery and an exterior horizon which, like
two hands clasping each other, form the architectonic equivalent of a
public invitation. Referring to the landscape the interiors are reversible;
and form the site which, in this special place and circumstance, is a
synthesis of building and landscape...a Kiasma.
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art Building info from Steven Holl Architects
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Helsinki Art Gallery
architects : Steven Holl
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Kiasma Museum of Contemporary
Art Helsinki - page: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
Website: www.kiasma.fi