flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Helsinki’s underground art museum opens to the public

Museums

Helsinki’s underground art museum opens to the public

JKMM designed the space.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | September 10, 2018
Amos Rex at night

© Mika Huisman.

Located underneath a 1930’s shopping center and the adjacent Lasipalatsi Square in Helsinki, the Amos Rex Museum provides about 23,500 sf of modern exhibition space.

The underground exhibition halls have domed ceilings and large skylights that open up to the square. From inside, the domed, undulating roofs have a design that features white circles against a black backdrop, which takes on the appearance of an art installation in its own right. The contemporary display halls have no pillars and are designed with flexibility in mind to allow for a variety of different exhibitions.

 

Amos Rex Exterior© Mika Huisman.

See Also: A WWII bunker becomes a museum along Denmark’s coast

 

From above ground, the five domes and skylights resemble slowly melting igloos peppered around the square. Visitors can take a peek into the skylights to view what is happening below or they can climb and walk along the domed roofs. The domes and skylights allow the square to function as an open space while also ensuring the museum space below doesn’t go unnoticed.

The Amos Rex Museum officially opened on Aug. 30.

 

Amos Rex Museum© Tuomas Uusheimo.

Tags

Related Stories

Building Team Awards | Jun 7, 2017

Rising above adversity: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Gold Award: The Smithsonian Institution’s newest museum is a story of historical and construction resolve.

Architects | Jun 7, 2017

Build your very own version of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum with this new LEGO set

744 LEGO bricks are used to recreate the famous Wright design, including the 1992 addition.

Museums | May 25, 2017

The museum as workspace

Many museum staff are resistant to the idea of open offices.

Architects | May 23, 2017

Queens Museum exhibit shows New York City as it could have been

The installation will showcase 200 years worth of unrealized Big Apple projects via original drawings, renderings, newly commissioned models, and 3D visualizations.

Museums | May 18, 2017

American Writers Museum opens on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue

Amaze Design designed the 10,000-sf space.

Cultural Facilities | May 4, 2017

Obama Foundation reveals first look at the Obama Presidential Center

The design comprises three buildings set in the public space of Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side.

Art Galleries | Apr 21, 2017

The Odunpazari Modern Art Museum pays homage to Ottoman Empire era architecture

The wooden façade is a link to the history of the area as a wood market.

Art Galleries | Apr 14, 2017

Activating exteriors as gallery space

Owners would like to get more value from their exterior spaces. One architecture firm details how it made that happen for the new Whitney Museum.

Museums | Jan 19, 2017

Turning museums inside out: White paper addresses the value of exterior gallery space

Many contemporary museum designs are beginning to utilize the exterior wall space to display art that can help attract new audiences.

Museums | Dec 15, 2016

The design of the Shanghai Planetarium draws inspiration from astronomical principles

Housed within the 400,000-sf building will be the world’s largest planetarium theater.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category

Cultural Facilities

Multipurpose sports facility will be first completed building at Obama Presidential Center

When it opens in late 2025, the Home Court will be the first completed space on the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago. Located on the southwest corner of the 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, the Home Court will be the largest gathering space on the campus. Renderings recently have been released of the 45,000-sf multipurpose sports facility and events space designed by Moody Nolan.




Museums

Nebraska’s Joslyn Art Museum to reopen this summer with new Snøhetta-designed pavilion

In Omaha, Neb., the Joslyn Art Museum, which displays art from ancient times to the present, has announced it will reopen on September 10, following the completion of its new 42,000-sf Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion. Designed in collaboration with Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, the Hawks Pavilion is part of a museum overhaul that will expand the gallery space by more than 40%.

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021