The National Museum of Finland will be closed to the public from October 2023 for a period of between two and three years. In a press release, the popular cultural attraction said that the closure is due to renovation of the museum’s historic main building as well as the beginning of construction on an extension at the site on Helsinki’s Mannerheimintie. With a target budget of 55 million euros, the construction project is the largest in the museum’s history, and is due to open to the public in the spring of 2027. Designed by JKMM architects, known for previous works including the Amos Rex Art Museum in the centre of the capital, as well as the Dance House Helsinki, the extension will be mainly underground, with a pavilion rising into the courtyard garden.
From the National Museum website: “The National Museum is on the threshold of the biggest change in its history. The historic main building, completed in 1910, will be joined by an impressive new part, which will provide more space for the rapidly growing museum activities. The museum’s public spaces will grow by half, the museum’s Pihapuisto will be opened up in a new way to the use of the townspeople, and the museum will become even more accessible. In the National Museum of the Future, it is possible to experience even more extensive implementations, from large exhibitions to various events. How do you imagine the National Museum in 2030? In the space next to the museum shop, you can familiarize yourself with our plans and participate in the visioning of the future. The observed images present the architects’ visual vision of the museum complex of the future. In the interactive work of Tanja Bastamow and Aku Meriläinen in the space, people’s thoughts about the National Museum of the future and archival images meet with the help of artificial intelligence.”
Read more on Kansallismuseo.fi and on YLE.fi
