Aalto museum extension (FN)

Competition for an extension between the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland

Concurso de diseño para una pieza de conexión entre el Museo de Alvar Aalto y el Museo de Finlandia Central

project info / información del proyecto:

program / programa:           museum shop and workstations / tienda del museo y oficinas

client / cliente:              Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland

location / situación:     Jyväskylä, Findland / Finlandia

building area / superficie construida: 460 m2

ENG

The project arises as a direct response to the brief and existing constrains, the need to connect the two present museums with a new piece that not only helps to bridge both buildings but expands and re-organizes their program and unifies both entities in one. From a volumetric point of view the proposal is shaped to have a minimum impact in the surrounding area, using the existing levels in the constructions and landscape.

The requirement of a connecting element is transferred to the spacial conception, where program and circulation are interlocked. The space provided for the museum shop is used at the same time as part of the circulation, becoming a big transit area that connects the existing building and different programs in one gesture. The whole volume is conceived as a big staircase where the main program coexists with the circulation space, turning the transition between both Museums into an experience per se.

The external treatment of the Museum and its approach is conceived as a continuation of the Ruusupuisto square, both in terms of materiality and geometry. The main access to the buildings becomes a pedestrian zone, limiting the vehicular presence to a drop off area, common for both Museums and relocating the car park provision into the back. From this point the access to each building is restricted to pedestrian circulation and the landscape shaped to connect the different levels and entrances through staircase and accessible ramps.