The Helsinki City Council greenlit a capital donation totaling $64,938,000 during its Feb. 14 meeting, which the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design will use to support efforts to establish a new museum of architecture and design. The Finnish state had previously affirmed its pledge to provide matching funds in December 2023. Additionally, the foundation will secure $32,469,000 million from private sources as a private funding base for the museum endeavor.
The design of the museum will be selected from an international, two-stage competition for it, opening April 11. The goal is to create an architecturally unique design, offer the framework for world-class museum operations and foster new, vibrant urban spaces in Helsinki's South Harbor area. Details on the competition program will be available on April 11, with the winner announced in August 2025. The competition is open and anonymous to all designers and will be conducted in English. For more information, visit the competition website at admuseo.fi.
Real Estate Company ADM — an entity owned by the City of Helsinki and the Finnish state — and the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design are organizing the competition in cooperation with the Finnish Association of Architects SAFA and the City of Helsinki.
“This new museum is set to both enhance Helsinki's global profile and provide a new, meaningful incentive to visit Helsinki," said Juhana Vartiainen, mayor of Helsinki. "The museum will provide a cultural heart for the rapidly developing South Harbour area and a new, inviting urban space in Helsinki’s prime maritime location. It also represents a sustainable investment that will create jobs, generate commerce, and attract tourists to Helsinki. The museum represents an investment in the future, it is exciting to see the plans now coming to fruition."
An implementation plan outlined by the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design was established in January 2024, with a possibility for the museum to commence operations in Helsinki's South Harbor by 2030. Once opened, the museum's operator will be an entity formed through the merger of the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum Helsinki.
More details can be found on the New Museum of Architecture and Design website.
