The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation has 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, is the first public presentation of the Stage One entries.
Stage One submissions were received from 77 countries, according to voluntary data provided by 70 percent of competitors. A "heat map" on the website indicates the overall percentage of submissions received, led by the United States, Italy, Finland, the UK, France and Japan.
"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," said Richard Armstrong, Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.
"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 Harbour site have captured the imagination of architects around the world," added competition organiser Malcolm Reading, chairman of London-based Malcolm Reading Consultants.
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.
In addition to the map, viewers can also filter the submissions by tag if they wish. 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. However, these were not compulsory and will have no bearing on the jury process or decision.
User can also create their own shortlist, reflecting the official jury process of selecting six finalists to continue to Stage Two of the competition, and share them through email or social media, as well as save their favourites for future viewing.
Next steps
The eleven-member jury will meet to deliberate 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 proposed Guggenheim Helsinki will be an innovative, multidisciplinary museum of art and design and should be of the highest architectural quality, creating a meaningful presence in Helsinki and offering civic space where both residents and visitors can gather.
The six top entries will advance to Stage Two of the competition with the shortlisted competitors due to be announced on 2 December. The entries will be presented in Helsinki and the shortlisted teams of individuals will be named, but not matched to their designs, in accordance with European Union procurement rules.
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.
The winning design will be announced next June.