Atlas Lantz Studio
Turku
New Museum
Turku, Finland
2024
The competition called for a design deeply rooted in Turku’s cultural and environmental context while establishing the museum as a connective hub linking past and future, landscape and city, and memory and innovation. The project needed to support a wide range of public activities beyond exhibition, accommodating gathering, learning, exchange, and community engagement.
A central objective was to redefine the museum experience by moving away from the traditional model of passive observation toward a participatory environment that encourages dialogue between visitors, exhibitions, and the surrounding landscape. The building was required to operate as a flexible civic platform, capable of adapting to seasonal programming, changing cultural needs, and evolving narratives. Environmental performance and responsiveness to Finland’s unique ecological conditions were also essential. The design needed to address the site’s fluctuating water levels—where water recedes rather than rises—while integrating sustainable stormwater management and reinforcing the relationship between the built environment and natural systems.
The design reimagines the museum as a civic instrument—an active platform for interaction, discovery, and collective knowledge. Rather than functioning as a static container, the building operates as a participatory environment where visitors engage with exhibitions, landscape, and one another through spaces designed for meeting, gathering, play, and reflection. A layered sequence of environments supports this openness, including outdoor terraces with playful topographies, water decks, community rooms for workshops and events, cafés and lounges for informal exchange, and quiet spaces for reflection and work.
The site adapts to seasonal change, exposing archipelagos during dry periods and expanding the waterscape during wetter seasons. Integrated stormwater systems—including a basin along the western edge and a shallow retention tank—function as visible infrastructure that supports ecological performance while shaping the visitor experience.
Through these strategies, the museum becomes both landscape and architecture, infrastructure and cultural platform. It does not simply preserve history—it participates in it, evolving alongside its environment and community while serving as a catalyst for Turku’s future.
“The project transforms Turku’s vision for a sustainable future into a living civic platform—where architecture, landscape, and community evolve together.”
The City of Turku initiated the Museum of History and Future as part of its broader vision to position the city as a global leader in sustainable urban development and cultural innovation. As Finland’s oldest city and a major cultural center in the Baltic region, Turku is undergoing a strategic transformation that aligns environmental responsibility, social wellbeing, and long-term urban growth. Central to this transformation is the regeneration of the Linnanniemi waterfront district, identified by the municipality as a key site for future civic life, public space, and cultural infrastructure. The project is closely tied to Turku’s ambitious climate agenda, including its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2029 and advancing a resource-wise future grounded in sustainable development and responsible use of natural resources.
Within this context, the museum was conceived not simply as a cultural facility, but as a civic catalyst—an institution capable of reflecting Turku’s heritage while advancing its commitment to climate action, community participation, and adaptive urban development.
The work presented here was completed during Andy Lantz’s tenure at RIOS where he led the practice as Global Creative Director & CEO. This project is a demonstration of that leadership either through the active participation in a paid commission with a client or the efforts associated with an invited or open competition.
Project Team:
Andy Lantz, Jenny Myers, Simone Lapenta, Dora Lin, Aditya Jagdale, Andy Magner, Chihiro Isono, Rachel Lee, Minzhi Lin, and Leo Vargas Contreras
Project visuals by Yanis Amasri.
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