Music Centre, Helsinki, 1999
Concert House, Music Library
and the Sibelius Academy


The Structure of the City:

The Helsinki Music Centre is not just a building, it is the MISSING LINK in the concept of the Töölö-bay area - the „keystone" of the town-plan.

The uncompleted landing of the Parliaments entrance stair still needs a solution. A new public square, the Parliament-Square, creates together with the Music-City-Square a new urban context for the Parliament. The colonnade becomes spatial limit of a dramatic, clearly defined space.

The south-facade of the Music Centre frames exactly the view to the east elevation of the Parliament Building. It gives the Music-City-Square a clear orientation. Across the water, the perspective on the Parliament is continued in a slightly shifted angle. The height of the colonnade is used to establish a strong link across the rails to the Kaisaniemi-Park and the National Theatre. A light-path forms a visual connection between the Music-City-Square, the Finish-National-Theatre and the park.

The water penetrates the site, binding the Kiasma and the Music-City to the Finlandia-Hall and the Opera House. The wedge shaped pool appears like a CRACK between two drifting soils, articulating the shift in the direction.

The east elevation of the Music-Centre emerges from the water-surface of the pool - creating a reflection of the foyer in the water. The parallel facades of the Music-Centre and the Finlandia-Hall are creating a new water front. The link to the Finlandia-Hall and the Kiasma is emphasised by the gap through the Music-City in the north-south direction.

The building site is imprinted by a number of historic and actual projects and concepts. The buildings neighbouring the Music City are of highest quality. Still the extremely wide range of architectural character from rigid classicism to highly expressive organic shapes asks for a calm, reduced element as the „keystone".

The Music-Centre is built on the existing flat railway ground at about 5 m under Mannerheimintie. The level is common with the Finlandia, the Kiasma, the Sanoma building and the new Töölö-Bay. The wall towards the western limits keeps alive the memory of the industrial history of the land.

The main pedestrian flows of the area meet at the Music-City-Square. The wide stairs in the west form a permanent outside auditorium. The Music-City-Square becomes an event space, a summer stage and a place for gathering and relaxation.

These urban qualities are carried on into the building.
An abstract cubic volume following the limits of the site is split up into 4 volumes - creating a void between them. This void, a continuous open atrium-space will be experienced like a urban space between town-houses. The atrium is a luminous space. It serves as access to the foyers, the restaurant, the shops, the information centre and to the Sibelius-Academy. At the same time it is a covered passage towards the Finlandia-Hall and the park. It is connected to underground parking. The variety of users assures a lively presence of people, public and professionals, from morning till late evening.

The soft facades in the atriums establish a contrast to the hard materials of the outer skin of the Music-City. The activities in the buildings will be recognisable through the layers of facades to the outside.



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