amos rex

In September 2013 the Association Föreningen Konstsamfundet put forth a proposal to the City of Helsinki to build a new art museum contiguous to the existing Lasipalatsi and beneath the Lasipalatsi Square. In May 2014 the Helsinki City Council gave its unanimous approval for setting up a real estate company, which is needed for the project to be carried out, and for transferring the ownership of Lasipalatsi to the new real estate company. Construction of the new museum started in January 2016. Amos Rex will open in August 2018. We are building a new type of museum, a space dedicated to art, that is easy to reach and a cool place to hang out; a protean space that can readily take on various forms, is open to experimentation and new forms of collaboration. The museum will begin its operations in August 2018 and construction is progressing swiftly. The heart of the new art museum consists of a 2000 m² exhibition hall situated beneath the Lasipalatsi square. With the new museum, designed by architectural firm JKMM, Lasipalatsi will retain its distinctive character while the adjacent Lasipalatsi square will undergo considerable modernization. In connection with the construction of the art museum the protected building is being gently renovated. The new art museum will be a cultural center consisting of the old Lasipalatsi including its movie theatre Bio Rex, and exhibition spaces beneath the Lasipalatsi square. The new exhibition hall the core of the museum will be built so that it can adapt to various purposes making it a unique space, in a Finnish context, for future art practices. Bio Rex offers excellent opportunities for exploring the intersection of visual art and film and will remain a home for film festivals. Accessibility and audience engagement are key factors in the ethos of the new museum. Young people constitute one of our main target audiences.