Submissions Revealed for Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation today announced the launch of an online gallery featuring the submissions for Stage One of the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition to design a proposed Guggenheim museum in the Finnish capital. The gallery-which can be found on the competition website atdesignguggenheimhelsinki.org/stageonegallery-is the first public presentation of the Stage One entries.

"We are thrilled to throw open the doors of this digital gallery and share the Stage One submissions with people in Finland and from around the world," says Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation. "Since its inception, this competition has been organized to be welcoming, inclusive, and transparent, and the gallery presents a singular opportunity for the public to explore and consider the broad expanse of entries."

"For anyone interested in design, the gallery is a tremendous resource that offers rare insight into the design process and further illustrates how the vision for a Guggenheim Helsinki put forth in the competition brief and the prominent South Harbor site have captured the imagination of architects around the world," says competition organizer Malcolm Reading, chairman of London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants.

Online Gallery Features
Each submission in the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition online gallery is represented with two images and a brief concept summary provided by competitors, and is identified only by registration number. In addition to presenting each entry, the gallery includes several features that allow web visitors to further explore the submissions and share their top selections:

• Map: Stage One submissions were received from 77 countries, according to voluntary data provided by 70 percent of competitors. A "heat map" indicates the overall percentage of submissions received by country, led by the United States, Italy, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, and Japan. • Search by Tag: To enhance the online viewing experience, competitors were invited to choose up to five tags to describe their design concept. Tags were chosen from a list of twenty-five characteristics related to material, shape, texture, and transparency. Tags were not required and will have no bearing on the jury process or decision. Online visitors can select any combination of tags, or no tags at all, to filter the submissions. • Create a Shortlist: Reflecting the official jury process of selecting six finalists to continue to Stage Two of the competition, users can create their own shortlists of six entries and share them through e-mail or social media. • Favorites: Users can identify and save favorite entries for follow-up and future viewing.

Competition Next Steps

• Jury Deliberations: November 2014 As the next step in the competition, the independent, eleven-member jurywill meet in Helsinki in early November to review all Stage One submissions. Entries will be judged anonymously on the basis of their architectural design, relationship to the site and the cityscape, practicality for users, sustainability (including criteria for the use of materials), and feasibility, according to the guidelines established in the competition brief. The six top entries will advance to Stage Two of the competition. • Shortlist Announcement: December 2, 2014 The six shortlisted entries selected to move to Stage Two of the competition will be presented in Helsinki at a media event on December 2, 2014. In accordance with European Union procurement rules, shortlisted teams or individuals will be named but will not be matched to their designs. Shortlisted designers will be invited to visit the proposed museum site in Helsinki in December and will have until March 2015 to make final submissions. • Winner Announcement: June 2015 The winning design will be announced in June 2015. The winner will be awarded a prize of €100,000 (approximately $136,000). The five runners-up each will receive €55,000 (approximately $75,000).

About the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Founded in 1937, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of art, primarily of the modern and contemporary periods, through exhibitions, education programs, research initiatives, and publications. The Guggenheim network that began in the 1970s when the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, was joined by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, has since expanded to include the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (opened 1997) and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi (currently in development). Looking to the future, the Guggenheim Foundation continues to forge international collaborations that take contemporary art, architecture, and design beyond the walls of the museum, including with the Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative, and with The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Chinese Art Initiative. More information about the foundation can be found atguggenheim.org.

About Malcolm Reading Consultants
A specialist in architectural competitions for museums and arts, heritage, and nonprofit organizations, the London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) has run architectural competitions for the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Glasgow School of Art, the UK Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, and the Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow, among others. MRC believes in the power of design to create new perceptions and to act as an inspiration. The consultancy's role in the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition includes liaising with stakeholders at the Guggenheim Foundation, the City of Helsinki, the State of Finland, and the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA), and ensuring absolute independence in the competition process. For more information, visitmalcolmreading.co.uk.

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October 22, 2014

More Information
Competition website: designguggenheimhelsinki.org
Project website: guggenheimhki.fi