Kiasma
Encyclopedia
Kiasma is a contemporary art
museum
located on Mannerheimintie
in Helsinki
, Finland
. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl
. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery
founded in 1990. Its central goal is to make contemporary art better known and strengthen its status.
to design a contemporary arts museum in Helsinki was held in 1992. The competition was meant for architects from the Nordic
and Baltic countries
. Five internationally renowned architects participated among whom there was only one US citizen. In 1993 the work Chiasma by the American architect Steven Holl
was selected from the 516 competitors. The construction of the disputed and controversial Kiasma was started in 1996. It was opened in 1998.
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
located on Mannerheimintie
Mannerheimintie
Mannerheimintie , or Mannerheimvägen , named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is one of the most famous streets in Helsinki, Finland. It was originally named Heikinkatu , after Robert Henrik Rehbinder, but was renamed after the Winter War...
in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Its name kiasma, Finnish for chiasma, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl
Steven Holl
Steven Holl is an American architect and watercolorist, perhaps best known for the 1998 Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland, the 2003 Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the celebrated 2007 Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City,...
. The museum exhibits the contemporary art collection of the Finnish National Gallery
Finnish National Gallery
Finnish National Gallery is the largest art museum institution of Finland. It consists of the Ateneum art museum, the museum of contemporary art, Kiasma, the Sinebrychoff Art Museum and the Central Art Archives....
founded in 1990. Its central goal is to make contemporary art better known and strengthen its status.
History
An architectural design competitionArchitectural design competition
An architectural design competition is a special type of competition in which an organization or government body that plans to build a new building asks for architects to submit a proposed design for a building. The winning design is usually chosen by an independent panel of design professionals...
to design a contemporary arts museum in Helsinki was held in 1992. The competition was meant for architects from the Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
and Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
. Five internationally renowned architects participated among whom there was only one US citizen. In 1993 the work Chiasma by the American architect Steven Holl
Steven Holl
Steven Holl is an American architect and watercolorist, perhaps best known for the 1998 Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum in Helsinki, Finland, the 2003 Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the celebrated 2007 Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City,...
was selected from the 516 competitors. The construction of the disputed and controversial Kiasma was started in 1996. It was opened in 1998.
Further reading
- Nancy Marmer, "Holl's Kiasma Debuts in Helsinki," Art in America, October 1998, p. 35.