Helsinki AD Museum

Proposal New Museum of Architecture & Design in Helsinki

The Helsinki AD Museum is conceived as a tool in the hands of its users: an architecturally legible vehicle for learning and doing. It acts as a vector for experiencing both the city and its maritime setting, functioning simultaneously as shelter and passage, refuge and adventure—a gift to the city and its visitors.

Rather than presenting a succession of exhibition rooms, the museum manifests as a vast void suspended above the ground. This singular space is multiple, variable, and flexible. Vertical circulations—open circular staircases and elevators—and a transversal route—an escalator connecting the street to the roof—punctuate and hierarchize the interior.

The building’s abstract yet elementary form arises from its critical position at the point where the quay bends to define and protect the bay. The circle, with its infinite curve, operates as a hinge within the urban plan, connecting pedestrian flows from across the port.

All journeys begin at the waterfront. Buses and trucks move alongside the cylindrical volume along Laivasillankatu, while pedestrians approach its continuous curved façade from the north and east. Bicycles traverse the open ground plane along a dedicated lane, separating public access routes from logistical traffic.

Inside, flexible circulation paths allow visitors to shape their own experience. Each of the three load-bearing circulation cores—the “column,” the “wall,” and the “box”—provides direct access to at least one of the museum’s distinct programs: exhibition, service, or staff areas.

A spiral stair winds gently through a central sequence of voids, constantly reorienting the gaze as visitors move through the exhibition path. The narrative of each exhibition unfolds in parallel with a sequence of views. Meanwhile, a glass-encased escalator connects the ground level to the rooftop, carrying visitors through a continuity of exterior public space. Interior voids and terraces allow the entire volume to breathe while establishing visual connections that help visitors orient themselves between sea and city.

As a workplace, the museum is both efficient and generous. Bright spaces and privileged views of the city are offered to staff and users alike. Strategically placed technical cores liberate large surface areas for flexible use, allowing programs and modes of occupation to evolve over time.

The circular plan optimizes the ratio of usable floor space to surface area while minimizing the building’s footprint. Its compact design and restrained façade reduce material and energy consumption, offering a response aligned with contemporary climate conditions and the specific needs of Helsinki.

In this project, the AD Museum is, above all, a place from which to inhabit the city. Its architecture—self-effacing yet immediately recognizable—proposes a new way of engaging with the waterfront district.