THE HELSINKI URBAN LOBBIES -Contra Enigma-

LET’S MAKE ALL CRYSTAL CLEAR WE H A V E A P R O B L E M W I T H T H E P O T E N T I A L C O N S T R U C T I O N O F

YET ANOTHER

GUGGENHEIM M U S E U M I N H E L S I N K I B U T , H O W E X A C T L Y I S T H A T

B E C O M I N G A P R O B L E M ?

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Is it the hundreds millions of municipal euros (will be) spent

that creates the problem? Or is it the luxury branding,

mono-culturization, top-down decision-making process,

and privatization of common goods? What if privatization

could bring prosperity to the people? Don’t we

humankind invented democracy for our leaders to make

decision on our behalves? Doesn’t culture evolve to

survive just l ike how living beings had always do? Hence

mono or hetero, luxurious or humble, culture shall exist or

extinct over the will of its people. The past is the past, and there

is no miracle in that. Just like the great myth of Bilbao Effect. One

cannot be 100% sure that a single museum could revive the life

an entire city. However, one can’t also equally sure of the

opposite.That’s why we should call it myth. Because it

can’t be proven right or wrong in any way.

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BUT, if we are talking about alternative

ideas to imagine richer future for Helsinki

by developing beneficial cultural stra-

tegies that grow from the specifics of its

local scene as well as from the needs of its

contemporary art practices; then we are

sitting on specific design ground. A par-

ticular domain where architecture might

lend good hands to it. Let’s be specific. Our

team was actually one of the

Guggenheim Hels inki Competit ion

participants; and our proposal was more or

less talking about these same issues.

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WHAT IF WE CAN HAVE A PRIVATE MUSEUM THAT IS TOTALLY OPEN TO THE PUBLIC? x

A specially designed structure where all galleries

will hang-over giant exoskeleton-shell; allowing

its ‘commercial spaces’ to be freely scattered

around network of ‘free -fare public alleys’.

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Inside the exoskeleton; the museum will become a

citizen-owned –urban lobby- a meeting point to

accommodate Helsinki’s vibrant life. Under it

lays the Guggenheim’s large scale exhibition halls.

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Outside the exoskeleton; vast green open space con-

necting the museum building with its natural surround-

ings; extending its formal site towards the waterfront.

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But how do we create form that symbolizes strong

cultural root yet also contemporary iconic? In attempt

to solve this problem; we turn our at-tention towards

Finland’s natural scenery – the vast renewable

forest, an everlasting treasure chest.

The lumber structure symbolizes not only harmony

with nature, but also root from the past, as well as…

…the ability to be re-engineered through the latest

design vocabulary. Old texture; new tech, new style.

Our Guggenheim proposal continues the evolution of museum design into

discourse realm never seen before. The parallel circulation flow is an

invention to revolutionize Guggenheim New York’s continuous circulation

flow; liberating pathways from its homogenous one-way nature to create

program intersection(s) in between the private and public zones. The Skin

Iconolocci in other hand is revolutionizing Guggenheim’s Bilbao Enigmatic

Signifier by establishing connection to the past and its surrounding through

the re-engineering of the culture’s root material.

However, over a broader understanding our Guggenheim Museum

proposal might not be on the best interest of all. Architecturally the design

might demonstrate new ways in dealing with cross-programmatic issues.

But in the urbanism point of view, how can a solitary super-expensive

architecture create impact onto the whole cityscape?

The concept of the ‘exoskeleton shell’ on the other hand, might be

essential in dealing with much larger issue such as extreme climate. Take

away the museum and let’s focus to the lumber shell with its urban lobby

concept. Think of it as – the realistic version of Fuller Dome. Whatever the

program it covers, the skin can always act as micro-climate dome; providing

shelter for activities round the clock, round the seasons.

Let it be a public bath…

(Foreground Picture: Les Bains des Docks by Ateliers Jean Nouvel)

…a grand glass house…

(Foreground Picture: Gardens by the Bay by Grant Associates and

Wilkinson Eyre Architects)

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…or one stop entertainment centre,

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(Foreground Picture: Khan Shatyr Entertainment Centre by Foster + Partners)

Again whatever program it covers, the ‘lumber

exoskeleton shell’ shall maintain its micro-climate

function as well as iconolocci symbol of identity.

Development may start from The South Harbor

inward to the city centre. And as one Urban Lobby

built after the other(s) –what was once the icon of the

building will then become the icon of the city- a

systematic urban renewal to recreate Helsinki’s

collective imagery in the contemporary age.

I’m not sure if the presence of Urban Lobby(s) will make Helsinki

more beautiful, because beauty lies within the intangible realm. But

it is surely NOT meant to make the city more sustainable – or at least

not on the commonly understood perspective. To sustain means to

preserve a condition over period of time. To be sustainable means

to go against change, to be eternal. Eternity is an unnatural thing. In

nature, change is inevitable. And engineering an exoskeleton

lumber is just one example on how to accommodate change, NOT

to conquer it. Nevertheless, more Urban Lobby means more public

spaces, which also means more access towards equitable public

properties. Essentially, the kind of public spaces we propose would

be available for use all year long.