How is a contemporary art museum different from any other kind of art museum? And how is a museum different from any other kind of building? Kiasma, the contemporary art gallery in Helsinki designed by Steven Holl, might be the perfect showcase for contemporary art. Museums with similar programs, like PS1 and Mass MoCA, both adaptations of existing buildings, seem to have been designed primarily to accommodate the humongous scale of so much contemporary work, as well as an increased focus on sculpture and installations. Kiasma has been designed to house the art, and delight visitors, in an array of galleries that are diverse in size, proportion and character. The result is a warm, welcoming gallery for a kind of art that is, oftentimes, not.
The most surprising thing about the building is its gentleness. Kiasma, which Holl won in a design competition, opened in 2008, at at time when he was regarded as a rock star in the United States. Publicity photos showing the building’s sweeping interior ramp made the museum seem highly expressive, sculptural, and idiosyncratic – another signature work from another over-regarded post-postmodern architect. But the building is astoundingly fluid; one moves through it effortlessly. A great deal of this is due to the careful composition, scaled beautifully for the moving body and alert to the picturesque. And a great deal of it is due to the judicious use of daylight, which is carried into the galleries through concealed windows and skylights. It’s a wonderful place to see contemporary art and, probably, just about anything.