Five Finalists in Competition for National Museum of Finland Annex

The finalists were selected from 184 proposals submitted in early April. At this point we don't know the architects responsible for the five designs, given the anonymity and confidentiality of the proposals, which follows from Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) rules.

The annex will be located just north of the museum building that was designed more than 100 years ago by Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen in a design competition. To not completely destroy the existing green space, the competition brief states the annex must be partially underground.

The brief also states the "annex and the open courtyard must form a unique overall experience that serves different operations and communities throughout the year." While the annex "will facilitate the production of large-scale and technically demanding exhibitions," it must also have "easily adaptable spaces ... well suited for a diverse range of cultural, art and recreational events, conferences and other functions."

The National Museum of Finland is centrally located in Helsinki very close to other cultural and institutional attractions, including Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall, Steven Holl's Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, and the recently completed Helsinki Central Library Oodi; each building can be glimpsed in the aerial renderings submitted by the five finalists.

Below are aerials and site plans of the five finalists. Visit the competition website to see more of the designs, "heart" your favorite, and see the other 179 submissions. The winner will be announced by the end of 2019.