“Building art is a syntesis of life in materialised form. We should try to bring in under the same hat not a splintered way of thinking, but all in harmony toghether.” Alvar Aalto
Jyvaskyla is known for its stunning architecture by Alvar Aalto, for lively cultural scene and beautiful nature. The city presents itself as an open air museum.
The design of the new extension between Alvar Aalto Museum and Museum of Central Finland responds to the project’s challenges set by its unique location and visibility, a dialogue with the existing architecture and an interaction between the museums site and its immediate surroundings.
The extention seeks to value the two museums architecture through a minimal intervention; therefore, the volumetric choice, its implantation and the materials used will offer a better functionality and a renewed image of the two museums.
The building design is based on an open space placed within a transparent glass shell. Free of structural steel, the glass envelope floats over the entire activities from below.
The self-supporting glass system allows a free-plan spatiality- left uninhibited for exploration- blending perspectives of the existing museums and the cityscape.
The sculptural wood wall serves as a projection screen and directs visitors from the ground floor terace to the main floor. Through its size and layout, the new connection gateway achieve balance with the scale of the site, museums and uneven ground.
The front square and the back garden provides an alternative for the two museums- an exterior exhibition spaces as an extension of the museums experience.
The front space of the new extension with its terraces and water basins creates a direct connection with the Ruusupuisto square. As a counterpoint, the backyard vegetation creates a transcendent universe and a sensual experience on the visiting route.
Using two materials, wood as a tactile connections between the two museums and glass as an outer shell, along with the exterior gardens, the new extension becomes an architectural composition that unites the interior with the exterior as a necessary part of the building. Source and Images Courtesy of Attitude Architecture.