After a five-hour debate, plans for a new outpost of the Guggenheim museum in Helsinki have been turned down by the city’s council. Out of the 85-member council, members voted 53 to 32 against the Paris-based Moreau Kusunoki Architects–designed submission due to the concern of construction costs. Comprised of glass and charred timber, the village-like construction beat out 1,714 other submissions in June of last year, but is now unlikely to be realized in the South Harbor of Helsinki.
Back in September, the issue of funding a $144 million building project, with taxpayers’ paying for about $45 million of the costs, was the main concern, as the country has already suffered cutbacks in other areas, such as welfare and schooling. As a result, the national Finns party, one of Finland’s three governing parties, vetoed state aid for the construction.
The latest proposal included a revised financing plan detailing how the project could be paid for with both private and public funds. Devised by the Guggenheim Helsinki Supporting Foundation and the City of Helsinki, the plan substituted the $55 million in proposed state fundingwith private money from fundraising and loans, according to The New York Times. The remaining $89 million would be paid for by the City of Helsinki. Earlier this month, that proposal was approved by a city board member, but then rejected this week by the larger City Council.
