How to imagine a museum thatliberates the experience of art from the dominance of the site’somnipresent landscape? Ratherthanorganizing the museum’sspaces in relation to the site’sabundance of daunting nature, thisproposal sets out to create a museum thatmediatesbetweentwoworlds: anexternalworld of nature and aninternalworld of art.
The requiredprogramme has been distributedalong a continuous route thatconnects different programmatic clusters such as galleries, storage, restaurant and office. By bending this route into a circletwoconditions have been organized: on the inside of the circle a series of enclosedexhibitionspacesallowsvisitors to focus on the experience of art, on the outside of the circle the continuous route thatconnects the programmatic clusters allowsforalternatingthisintimateexperienceswith views on the surrounding nature.
The irregularresidualspacebetween the programmatic boxes is turnedinto a Gallery Garden, continuing the tradition of landscape architecturethat is part of the museum’shistory. In contrast to the vastness of the surrounding landscape, thiscontained garden canbeused to exhibit the sculpturecollection of the museum butalso as eventspace, accommodatinglectures, interview-marathonsoroutsidescreenings and art-picnics. As a result, the floorarea of the Museum is extendedduringsummer, anideathatcouldreach as far as reconceptualizing the museum’sidentityinto a twofold ‘Wintermuseum’ and ‘Summermuseum’ that host programs of different nature. As utopic garden at the heart of the museum, the Gallery Garden couldbecome a platform to experiment withunexpected relations between art and nature. Each of the requestedgalleryspaces is organized in separate rooms to create a maximum of curatorialfreedom. The different galleriescouldbeusedtogether to host oneexhibition, butalsoseparatedor in arrangementswith the existinggalleryspace in JoenniemiManor. The art handling and storagefacilities are combined in a programmatic cluster near the exhibitionspacesforreasons of efficiency. However, this arrangement alsoallows curators to include the museum’sarchiveintoexhibitionsoffering the possibility to experiment withnewcuratorial models and modes of displaying art.
In the sameway as the programmatic clusters at the ring’sinterior, the existing museum is connected at a single point to the continuous museum route. Like a diamond in a ring of gold, the JoenniemiManor – as the onlyarchitectural volume on the outside of the ring – is re-contextualized as the jewel of the museum’sexpansion.
In reference to the Serlachiusfamily-business, we propose to construct the extension of the museum in wood. Wood notonlyrefers to the industrythat has created a greatfutureforMännta, butalsoadapts to the forestlikesurroundings of the museum. As anautonomousisland of wood, the museum becomes the twin of Taavetinsaariisland, anchoring the museum within the landscape.
Ratherthanprovokinganoppositionbetween nature and art - the continuous museum route is sequencingbothconditions to exist in theirown right. Whenstrolling the museum, visitorswill turn theirbodiesboth to art and nature, dependingontheirlocationalong the museum’s routing. Whereasvisitorsleave the route to enter one of the enclosed museum spaces to engagewith the museums’ exhibitions, specificmomentson the routing frame the surrounding landscape to contemplate the view on the beautiful nature. The continuous route is notonlyorganising the museums’ programme, butitalsomediatesbetweentwoworlds - the inner world of art and the externalworld of nature - thatultimately meet in the experience of the museum’svisitor.
