The 18 month-long process of selecting an architect to design Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki has completed, with the announcement that JKMM Architects, a Helsinki-based architecture practice, has won the international, open and anonymous design competition for the project. JKMM Architects’ design, known during the competition as Kumma, will create a landmark waterfront museum that will showcase Finland’s unique culture of architecture and design on a global stage.
The location for Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design is a vacant former dockside site in the South Harbour, a historic waterfront area in central Helsinki, close to landmarks including the City’s Market Square, Alvar Aalto’s famous ‘Sugar Cube’, the Orthodox and Lutheran Cathedrals, and the popular Esplanade Park. The competition site and the area around it is a designated buffer zone of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of The Suomenlinna Sea Fortress.
JKMM Architects’ winning entry answers the competition brief by proposing a new 10,050 sq m museum building that will meet the urban opportunity of this prominent site and deliver on the Museum’s goal of being a flexible, inclusive, and welcoming space for Helsinki’s residents and visitors. The competition jury commended the design for its characteristic of sitting harmoniously within the surrounding urban fabric, while still standing out as an original and clearly identifiable public building.
Finland’s new Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki will draw on the rich traditions and contemporary strength of design and architecture in Finland and the Nordic region. It will offer engaging programs that reveal the relevance and potential of design in a changing world. The new building will house exhibitions drawn from The museum’s collection of over 900,000 artefacts, including objects, correspondence, models and photographs documenting the work of internationally-famed practitioners such as Aino and Alvar Aalto, Eero Aarnio, Maija Isola, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Paavo Tynell, and design brands such as Marimekko, Nokia and Fiskars.
The new building will also host high-profile touring exhibitions and offer attractive public services, from a design library to an open-access summer terrace.
Sustainability — ecological, social, and cultural — is a key principle guiding both the design and construction of the new museum. Helsinki has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, and the museum project actively supports this goal across its operations. The competition brief asked participants to deliver a building that would serve as a benchmark for climate resilience and accessible, inclusive design. In addition, each competition entry was subjected to a People Flow Analysis by KONE Finland.
Construction of the project is scheduled to commence in 2027, and the
museum is planned to open in 2030.
Authors
Samuli Miettinen, architect SAFA, founding partner, principal designer / PS
Asmo Jaaksi, architect SAFA, founding partner
Teemu Kurkela, architect SAFA, founding partner
Juha Mäki-Jyllilä, architect SAFA, founding partner
Samuli Summanen, architect
