Competition jury: "Beautiful, elegant, and refined, this entry understands Joenniemi as a whole that forms a meeting place where art, architecture, and nature come together. Expressionless glass volumes accentuate the manor’s entrance square splendidly and assume natural positions within the scale of the existing buildings. The sculpture garden located below ground level that forms the heart of the museum is a charming solution. All galleries have a distinctive character, and the exhibition path works well. The small, pavilion-type buildings of Joenniemi and Taavetinsaari activate all of the manor grounds for the museum visitors in an elegant way."
Project Text: The Serlachius Gösta Museum is home to one of the most significant private art collections in Finland. It is situated in a historical manor building amidst the beautiful natural surroundings of Mänttä, Finland. The setting inspired us to become curators of a park museum and a museum park, which carefully considers all existing conditions, rather than a resort to one big formal gesture.
The proposal minimizes the impact of placing new buildings in the landscape by positioning them near the existing manor and plaza. The added building mass is dissolved into a free arrangement of volumes and voids, opening the museum to nature and respecting the prominence of the historical manor.
Separate volumes are interconnected via a sunken courtyard; the forum, an open social green space which serves as the museum’s heart. From here, visitors will enter the new galleries then return and discuss, reflecting on what they’ve seen. As the forum links the different programmatic parts, it will bring life into the museum. As a venue for social gathering and discussion, the Gösta museum will fulfill its role in the cultural landscape.
Complementing this new ensemble are small building programs that will be integrated in the surrounding landscape: small galleries, a sauna building and boathouse.
The Gösta ensemble breaks the barrier between art, architecture and landscape. The exhibitions at the Gösta Museum provide an opportunity to embody ‘the spirit of the place’: offering new perspectives, a sense of life’s fullness and a special experience of art.
Open International Design Competition – Purchase Prize
