Oulu Vessel
“Architecture has a second intention that always remains latent: the idea of creating a paradise.” is the only meaning of our work. If we did not continually carry this ideal to the slopes, all buildings would be simpler, more trivial, and life would be… well, then it wouldn’t be life. Every building, every product of architecture, is a symbol of it and aims to demonstrate that we want to build an earthly paradise for men” – The Paradise of the Architects-Alvar Aalto.
Museum by the Street
The proposal envisions the museum and science centre as an urban catalyst. This idea takes form through traditional public spaces such as streets, passageways, and plazas organised around the museum. The museum would be a part of the art route connecting the old industrial district of Myllytulli to other cultural institutions in the area. Furthermore, an internal street connects the two plazas in the proposal and the street serves as a new public connection within the museum making it accessible from all sides.
The axial connection between the Oulu Museum of Art, the science centre, and the museum is emphasised by positioning the latter is positioned perpendicular to the existing science centre. Thus, the museum and science centre work as an integrated ensemble while retaining their distinct identities and functional autonomy. The museum is connected to the science centre on all floors and to the exhibition rooms on alternative floors. This allows shared facilities to be created in the linear space adjacent to the science centre by connecting the two buildings.
The museum is divided into three sections: public amenities and a lobby (which includes an information zone, a café, a multi-use area, a museum shop, a cloakroom, and a large group entryway), exhibition and auxiliary spaces, and offices. The lobby on the ground level accommodates all public functions, such as the café, the multi-use area, the museum shop, and serving as a spillover space for the café-restaurant.
The building is made of CLT with vertical brick fins inlaid with birch wood screens and glass panels. The distinction between the plaza and parking facades reflects the museum’s inner organisation in regards to size, function, orientation, materials and lighting. The building features six distinct facades, all emphasising vertical accents and a connection to the sky.
Incorporating streets and plazas into the project welcomes life into the museum precinct. Each deliberate decision – the varied proportions of exhibition spaces, curation of movement routes, varied articulation of facades, and invocation of memory through materiality – all elicit individual responses to a vibrant life imagined within the museum building.