City Board votes against the proposal on Guggenheim Helsinki

The Helsinki City Board rejected in its meeting of 2 May the proposal of Helsinki Mayor Jussi Pajunen to proceed to the second phase of the project to build a new Guggenheim museum in Helsinki. The Board voted 8-to-7 against the proposal.

The votes against the proposal came from the Board members representing the SDP (the Social Democratic Party), the Left Alliance and the Finns, as well as three Green Board members. The Board members in favour of the proposal were the representatives of the National Coalition Party (centre-right) and the Swedish People’s Party as well as one Green representative.

According to the Mayor’s proposal, the second phase of the Guggenheim project would have involved an international architectural competition on the museum to be built in Helsinki’s South Harbour, and the City of Helsinki would have signed a letter of intent with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation on the establishment of the museum. The City Board rejected this plan.

Helsinki commissioned the Guggenheim Foundation in January 2011 to produce a feasibility study on the possibility to build a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki. The study, presented in January 2012, recommended building the museum at a central location in Helsinki’s South Harbour.

10.1.2012

Guggenheim Helsinki: Concept and Development Study

Report Proposes Location, Purpose, Financing and Governance of a Museum and Recommends Moving Forward with an Architectural Competition. The report proposes that a museum would be built on a City-owned site along the South Harbor waterfront, where the Kanava Terminal Building currently stands.

Concept and Development Study for a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki (A4 format pdf)

Concept and Development Study for a Guggenheim museum in Helsinki (A3 format pdf)

Read the study (primapaper/flash)

Guggenheim Helsinki: konsepti- ja kehitysselvitys (pdf)

Guggenheim Helsingfors: koncept- och utvecklingsstudie (pdf)

Photo: Pertti Nisonen / City of Helsinki

Press release
English (pdf)
Finnish (pdf)
Swedish (pdf)

Presentation by Mayor Pajunen (ppt)

Economic summary
English (pdf)
Finnish (pdf)

Watch The Presentation seminar held at The Finlandia Hall 10.1.2012.

Photo: Pertti Nisonen / City of Helsinki

Press Photos

Helsinki Concept and Development Study: Project Update

October 2011

English (Link to Guggenheim website)
Finnish (Word document)

May 2011

English (Link to Guggenheim website)
Finnish (Word document)
Swedish (Word document)

Helsinki commissions the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to explore the possibility of a Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki

18.1.2011

Press release

English
Finnish
Swedish

Watch The Press Conference held at The Helsinki City Hall 18.1.2011.

Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén, Tuula Haatainen, Richard Armstrong, Jussi Pajunen, Ari Wiseman.

Lisätietoa / Supporting documents

Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Basic Facts Website

Helsinki Basic Facts
Helsinki: an Overview
Helsinki Press Photos

Finland Basic Facts

Biographies

Jussi Pajunen, Mayor, City of Helsinki (bio image)
Tuula Haatainen, Deputy Mayor, City of Helsinki (bio image)
Janne Gallen-Kallela-Sirén, Director, Helsinki Art Museum (bio image)
Richard Armstrong, Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Museum (bio image)
Juan Ignacio Vidarte, Deputy Director and Chief Officer for Global Strategies, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (bio image)
Ari Wiseman, Deputy Director, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation (bio image)

Selected Helsinki Culture Links

Helsinki Art Museum www.artmuseum.fi

International programs in visual arts, theater, dance and opera www.visithelsinki.fi

World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 www.wdchelsinki2012.fi

Helsinki Design District (25 streets and 190 points-of-contact for fashion, jewelry, interior design, antiques, creative industries and cafés) www.designdistrict.fi

Helsinki Festival www.helsinginjuhlaviikot.fi
Flow Festival www.flowfestival.com
DocPoint Helsinki Documentary Film Festival: www.docpoint.info

08.05.2012