Design for Helsinki Guggenheim museum unveiled, city remains uncertain

A group of French designers named Moreau Kusunoki Architects on Tuesday emerged as the winners in a competition about a would-be Guggenheim art museum along the South Waterfront here.

In all, the contest received 1,700 submissions from around the world. The winning French agency previously designed the Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain Museum in Marseille, France.

This is the second effort by the U.S.-based Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to establish itself in the Finnish capital but no final decision has been taken as to whether the museum will be built.

A previous project faltered in 2012 as the City of Helsinki refused to accept the role of having to finance it all. In this second project launched in 2013, private financing was given a role and the Guggenheim Foundation alone paid the cost of the architectural contest.

The chairman of the Foundation, Richard Armstrong, told a press conference on Tuesday that the transparency of the architectural contest was unusual and it reflected the character of Finland. Usually the main financiers select the designers without preceding publicity.

Guggenheim museums around the world have had the international hallmark of standing out architecturally in locations.

Officially named "Art in the City," the entry by Moreau Kusunoki Architects was nicknamed in Finland as "the Light House."

It breaks the rules of height given for the waterfront location. The public opinion in Finland has questioned the impact on the historical South Waterfront skyline.

The cost of building the museum has been estimated at 130 million euros (145 million U.S. dollars). The Foundation said in 2013 Finland would recover the costs in three years. If the museum is built, Helsinki will have to pay a license for 20 years.

A locally established support foundation is to collect 28 million euros of private money for the construction. It has collected so far 10 million euros and has lagged behind schedule.

Local media has reported a sizable input from the hospitality and hotel industries of the area. The chairman of the private support foundation Ari Lahti said on Tuesday no major tourist attraction has been built in Helsinki since an amusement park in the early 1950s.

The local critics of the Guggenheim plans for Helsinki have said there are already many outstanding art museums in the city, and at a time of austerity the city should not commit itself to such spending and maintenance. Endit