In the city of Jyväskylä, on a steep slope, there are two of the museums projected by the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto in the past century. The Museum of Central Finland (1962), dedicated to the history and culture, serves both as the provincial museum of Central Finland and the museum of the city itself. Less than 15 meters from the first is the museum of Alvar Aalto (1973), dedicated to the mentioned architect.
It is intended to build an extension in the space between the two museums, in order to provide a connection between them and hold a shared store.
The challenge of the project is to respond to a complex program within a tight area, seeking to establish a harmonious relationship with both museums and the environment.
The proposal calls for a clear distinction between existing and new architecture. The building will contain the values of Aalto's architecture without falling into a picturesque mimesis.
The project aims, with a simple gesture and a curved and rectilinear geometry, to organize a new space of communication between the two museums, as a result of the support structure and dedicated to storage space and shop. The result is an elliptical central element, the backbone of the expansion, and container of warehouse functions on the lower floor and store on top. The elliptical perimeter ramp provides a continuous path through the building, an architectural promenade that gradually discovers the different levels and the various views to the outside and to the museums. promenade arquitectónica que descubre progresivamente los distintos niveles y las variadas vistas hacia el exterior y hacia los museos.
Externally, the extension creates a new facade, following the regularization parameters intuited in the adjacent facades, a rich set of curves and straight. Against the total opacity of the museums, the new body provides a u-glass facade, allowing indirect light to enter the space. The new facade is projected as a backdrop to the fountain of the Alvar Aalto Museum, while a lookout point of completion of the new urban square is created.
The urban space is restructured by partially removing the road through the plaza. In turn, part of the vehicular access to the museums are deleted and moved to the periphery. In order to enable new social practices in the square, a staggered space for public events is created. The result is a new urban space dedicated to social relationship of the inhabitants of Jyväskylä.
Roof. The set of ramps and levels is unified by a flat roof, perforated only by six skylights.
Roof structure. Compuesta por una celosía de vigas de hormigón armado de un metro de canto. Ofrece al interior un juego de líneas quebradas dirigidas a establecer una comunicación visual entre ambos museos y el exterior desde el espacio interior.
Façade. The façade responds to the new urban character to be created with the expansion. Following the compositional system of the facade of the Museum of Aalto, we propose a regular facade of U-glass panels with large windows at strategic points, allowing partial views of the outer space. Thanks to such material, strict opacity breaks, creating an interior in diffuse light, only altered by the entry of light through the straight skylights on the roof.
Shop. The store space is distributed in two levels. The first one connects the extension to the Central Museum (elevation 87,55 m), dissolving its facade and merging the new space to the lobby of the local museum. This first level also communicates with the outside, serving as the first point of access control to the store. At the second level, connected to the former via a staircase and the ramp, the maximum length of the store is developed. In order to generate a homogeneous environment, a peripheral furniture and a central body are created, whose curved shape is based on a design by Alvar Aalto. The main and upper level is located slightly below the first level of the Alvar Aalto Museum, and will have an exit to the forest located west.
Circulations. The expansion includes both communication within the inside rooms and with the outside. Regarding the urban space, the expansion facilitates pedestrian traffic promoting the store as a transitional space between the back and front of the museums. Inside, the proposal links the two museums generating a continuous space yet differentiated. An architectural promenade determined from conceptual principles of Aaltian architecture. The proposal provides a fully accessible communication, especially for material transport and lift access to the central museum.
Structure. The structure solves in a simply and organized manner the interior space. The elliptical ring of reinforced concrete gives, in a single gesture, answer to the warehouse, the shop and the access through ramps, while the five-perimeter reinforced concrete pillars support the roof.
Warehouse space. The storage space is a result of the elliptical configuration of the store. It offers quick communication with both museums and abroad.
