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| Guggenheim Helsinki museum plans rejected by city councillors | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Venice and Bilbao will remain the only Guggenheim museums in Europe for the foreseeable future after Helsinki finally buried a controversial plan for a striking new shrine to modern and contemporary art on the city’s waterfront. | Venice and Bilbao will remain the only Guggenheim museums in Europe for the foreseeable future after Helsinki finally buried a controversial plan for a striking new shrine to modern and contemporary art on the city’s waterfront. |
| After a stormy five-hour meeting lasting into the early hours of Thursday morning, city councillors voted by 53 to 32 to kill off the project, which had been fiercely contested in Finland since it was floated in 2011. | After a stormy five-hour meeting lasting into the early hours of Thursday morning, city councillors voted by 53 to 32 to kill off the project, which had been fiercely contested in Finland since it was floated in 2011. |
| Helsinki’s deputy mayor, Ritva Viljanen, who had supported the plans for a €150m (£126m) museum on a prime dockside site currently in use as a car park, said the project’s proponents would have to accept the decision. | Helsinki’s deputy mayor, Ritva Viljanen, who had supported the plans for a €150m (£126m) museum on a prime dockside site currently in use as a car park, said the project’s proponents would have to accept the decision. |
| “Democracy has spoken, and in no uncertain manner; there can be no ifs or buts,” Viljanen told YLE, the state broadcaster. She said she was sorry feelings about the project had run so high, with some backers receiving threats of violence. | “Democracy has spoken, and in no uncertain manner; there can be no ifs or buts,” Viljanen told YLE, the state broadcaster. She said she was sorry feelings about the project had run so high, with some backers receiving threats of violence. |
| Ari Lahti, chairman of the Guggenheim Helsinki Support Foundation which spent two years gathering private sponsorship for the scheme, told the broadcaster the project had fallen victim to emotion, not reason. | Ari Lahti, chairman of the Guggenheim Helsinki Support Foundation which spent two years gathering private sponsorship for the scheme, told the broadcaster the project had fallen victim to emotion, not reason. |
| “This was an important project and I continue to believe the museum would have benefited Finland and Helsinki,” he said. “But yes, I am afraid that now the whole proposal has pretty much collapsed.” | “This was an important project and I continue to believe the museum would have benefited Finland and Helsinki,” he said. “But yes, I am afraid that now the whole proposal has pretty much collapsed.” |
| The council rejected revised plans by the Paris architects Moreau Kusunoki, whose design was chosen from among 1,700 entrants to an international competition last year. Judges described it as a “fragmented, non-hierarchical, horizontal campus of linked pavilions where art and society can meet and intermingle”. | The council rejected revised plans by the Paris architects Moreau Kusunoki, whose design was chosen from among 1,700 entrants to an international competition last year. Judges described it as a “fragmented, non-hierarchical, horizontal campus of linked pavilions where art and society can meet and intermingle”. |
| The project would have required the city of Helsinki to contribute about €80m of the museum’s construction costs, with private donors finding about €66m. The nationalist Finns, one of Finland’s three ruling parties, ruled out any possibility of state aid in September. | The project would have required the city of Helsinki to contribute about €80m of the museum’s construction costs, with private donors finding about €66m. The nationalist Finns, one of Finland’s three ruling parties, ruled out any possibility of state aid in September. |
| Proponents of the project, who included a consortium of Finnish travel, hotel and tourism businesses such as Finnair and the cruise lines Viking and Eckerö, argued it would revitalise the capital’s cultural standing and economy. | Proponents of the project, who included a consortium of Finnish travel, hotel and tourism businesses such as Finnair and the cruise lines Viking and Eckerö, argued it would revitalise the capital’s cultural standing and economy. |
| They pointed to the example of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Bilbao, which has transformed the fortunes of the Spanish city since its opening in 1997, turning it into a thriving art and architectural destination. | They pointed to the example of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Bilbao, which has transformed the fortunes of the Spanish city since its opening in 1997, turning it into a thriving art and architectural destination. |
| Supporters also argued that Finland’s proud tradition in design, typified by names such as the architect Alvar Aalto and the fashion house Marimekko, merited a showcase like that offered, for example, by Frank Lloyd Wright’s celebrated Guggenheim New York. | Supporters also argued that Finland’s proud tradition in design, typified by names such as the architect Alvar Aalto and the fashion house Marimekko, merited a showcase like that offered, for example, by Frank Lloyd Wright’s celebrated Guggenheim New York. |
| But objectors said one of the Finnish capital’s best locations, facing the presidential palace in the port, would have been handed over to a “McDonald’s of art”, and many Finns were most concerned about the museum’s price tag. | But objectors said one of the Finnish capital’s best locations, facing the presidential palace in the port, would have been handed over to a “McDonald’s of art”, and many Finns were most concerned about the museum’s price tag. |
| The country’s economy, hit by the financial crisis, has been struggling since 2010, and popular opinion objected to so much public money being spent on culture at a time when the government was pushing through a multibillion-euro austerity programme. | The country’s economy, hit by the financial crisis, has been struggling since 2010, and popular opinion objected to so much public money being spent on culture at a time when the government was pushing through a multibillion-euro austerity programme. |
| There was also widespread resentment at the fact the US-based Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation planned to charge €18.4m over 20 years to lend its name to the planned new museum. | There was also widespread resentment at the fact the US-based Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation planned to charge €18.4m over 20 years to lend its name to the planned new museum. |
| “Unfortunately, it’s all become very political,” Lahti told the Guardian in September. “If the Guggenheim Helsinki had been mooted before the crisis, I have no doubt that it would have been built by now. But times have changed; the whole situation has changed.” | “Unfortunately, it’s all become very political,” Lahti told the Guardian in September. “If the Guggenheim Helsinki had been mooted before the crisis, I have no doubt that it would have been built by now. But times have changed; the whole situation has changed.” |
| However, Osku Pajamaki, a council member from the Social Democrats who had resisted the project, said he was delighted with the vote. “There are no shortcuts to tourism and cultural attractions when the Finnish capital is in question,” he said. | However, Osku Pajamaki, a council member from the Social Democrats who had resisted the project, said he was delighted with the vote. “There are no shortcuts to tourism and cultural attractions when the Finnish capital is in question,” he said. |