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The exterior of the museum's entry. Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art in Helinski, Finland (photo: Jussi Tianen) |
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| A new museum in Helsinki and a chapel in Seattle testify to Steven
Holl's mastery of light. by Michael Webb "I t feels alive," says New York architect Steven Holl, describing his Chapel of St. Ignatius on the campus of Seattle University, which was completed early last year and has been widely praised. "The light pulses as the sun emerges, and there's a feeling of silence that's expressed in the light." Holl's newest project, Kiasma, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, opens this month, and is sure to strengthen his international reputation as a master of light. For certain architects, light is the fundamental material of architecture, "the giver of all presences," as Louis Kahn put it. Deftly handled, it can seem the most palpable element of a building--bringing out its forms in bold chiaro-scuro, throwing textures into sharp relief, or suffusing an interior with a soft glow. And it can contribute enormously to the evocative power of the architectural experience. In Intertwining (Princeton Architectural Press, 1996), Holl writes: "When we move through space with a twist and turn of the head, mysteries of gradually unfolding fields of overlapping perspectives are charged with a range of light--from the steep shadows of bright sun to the translucence of dusk." Holl's understanding of the subtleties and psychological impact of light is nowhere more evident than in his design for the Kiasma museum. To fit the site, at the tip of Töölö Bay, the architect created a curved and tapered building for the museum's 25 galleries that allows natural light to enter in several ways. The west wall is composed of glass "planks" with translucent insulation, and resembles a luminous sheet of ice. The planks trap and diffuse light from the sun, which hovers near the horizon for half the year. The museum takes advantage of light reflected off the lake, and becomes a radiant presence on dark winter evenings. Holl compares the experience of walking through the building to "listening to a great piece of music. It climaxes at the top of the building, where light pours in from the side and above." Kiasma is a Finnish word for intertwining--which expresses the goal of creating a synthesis of building, city, and landscape, and of all the arts and activities that will be housed there. Holl was one of four overseas architects in the Kiasma competition, vying against more than 500 contenders from Scandinavia and the Baltic states, and was the first foreigner to win a major commission in Finland since it declared independence from Russia in 1917. That was achievement enough, but his design also won over a group of hard-core opponents, led by an aged general, who objected to the proximity of the building to the equestrian statue of Marshall Mannerheim, Finland's George Washington. In February, Holl received the Alvar Aalto medal, the country's highest architectural honor. Kiasma is part of a resurgence of design activity in Finland, one that is also evident in the panoply of Finnish design and architecture shows--including MOMA's Aalto show--that have appeared in New York and Helsinki recently. It will open during the white nights of the coming summer, when the sun barely sets, but it may be cherished more when the nights lengthen and threaten to swallow up the days. In winter, the museum will offer a sensuous and luminous refuge from the cold and dark, as compelling and rich as the great works of Finland's own master of light, Aalto. |
Keywords:
Steven Holl, Seattle, Helinski, light