The Alvar Aalto Foundation and the City of Jyväskylä has launched an open international competition in search of an architect to design an extension that would connect the Alvar Aalto Museum with the Museum of Central Finland, and the surrounding outdoor area. The aim is to connect these two key Aalto works to form an attractive, high-quality museum center.
“On the initiative of the Alvar Aalto Foundation we set about taking the matter forwards, our hope being to hold an international design competition. It is wonderful to be involved, via the competition, in linking the museum buildings together, something that Alvar Aalto had originally intended,” says Director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation Tommi Lindh. Read on to learn more.
The idea of adding an extension came up in the City of Jyväskylä’s museum-network analysis completed in 2011. The change to the town plan for the area of the Ruusupuisto already under consideration allowed for the building of an extension between the museums.
The aim of the extension planned to go between the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland is to improve the shared use and functionality of the museums’ premises. It is hoped that competition entrants will, within the constraints of the competition area, also make proposals for developing the articulation of the outdoor areas, so that the area in front of the museums will be more integrated into the whole. Construction will only take place on the marked site between the museums.
In its criteria the competition’s jury stresses the necessity of an integrated architectural approach, fitting the new extension in a balanced way between the two Alvar Aalto-designed buildings, and the technical and economic feasibility of the plan.
“Competition entries are expected to be of an architecturally high standard. The primary criteria are that the winning entry should suit this nationally important cultural environment, and that it should find a way of creating a natural link with Alvar Aalto’s architecture,” says Lindh.
The members of the jury are: Esko Eriksson (Real Estate Director, City of Jyväskylä, Real Estates), Ari Karimäki (Service Director, Culture and Sports),Tommi Lindh (Director, Alvar Aalto Foundation, Architect SAFA), Ulla Rannanheimo (Real Estate Planning Manager, City of Jyväskylä, Real Estates, Chair of the Jury), Leena Rossi (Head of Urban Planning, Architect SAFA, Urban Planning and City Infrastructure), Leila Strömberg (City Architect, Architect SAFA, Urban Planning and City Infrastructure) and Heli-Maija Voutilainen (Director, Museum of Central Finland). The Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) has appointed Asmo Jaaksi (Architect SAFA) and Anu Puustinen (Architect SAFA) to the jury.
The public design competition for an extension for the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland opens June 29 and ends on October 30, 2015. The competition winner will be announced on Alvar Aalto’s birthday, February 3, 2016. The competition program and appendices are now on the Alvar Aalto Foundation’s website: www.alvaraalto.fi/ruusupuisto.
Title
Alvar Aalto Foundation Launches Competition to Form Museum Center in JyväskyläWebsite
Organizers
Alvar Aalto Foundation , City of JyväskyläRegistration Deadline
16/10/2015 16:00Submission Deadline
30/10/2015 16:00Address
Alvar Aallon katu 7, 40600 Jyväskylä, Finland