Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art
Steven Holl's curving contemporary art museum beside Mannerheimintie, part of the Finnish National Gallery.
Kiasma is the contemporary art museum of the Finnish National Gallery, standing on Mannerheiminaukio between the parliament building, Finlandia Hall and the main railway station. The American architect Steven Holl won an international competition in 1993 with a scheme named Chiasma, after the crossing of optic nerves, and the building opened in May 1998. Its two interlocking wings, one straight and one curving, are clad in zinc, acid-treated brass and glass, and the interior is organised around a long ramp and daylight galleries.
The museum holds the national collection of contemporary art, which now numbers several thousand works by Finnish and international artists and is shown in rotating thematic displays rather than a fixed permanent hang. Alongside temporary exhibitions, Kiasma runs a black-box performance space, Kiasma Theatre, used for dance, live art and talks, and the surrounding square is a public gathering place. The building's careful use of northern daylight, filtered through curved skylights and clerestories, is among its most discussed architectural features.
Highlights
- Steven Holl's interlocking curved and straight wings, completed in 1998
- Galleries lit by curved skylights tuned to northern daylight
- Rotating displays from the national contemporary art collection
- Kiasma Theatre, a black-box stage for dance and live art
