
Almost exactly one year after the government of Helsinki, Finland, commissioned the Guggenheim to produce a study on the feasibility of opening a branch in the capital city, the museum has delivered its report: an enthusiastic thumbs up for the project, which carries a $180 million price tag.
The report, which was voted on by the Guggenheim board in December, calls for the creation of a 129,000-square-foot museum, about a third of which would be devoted to exhibition space, according to the AP. The report reads: “The board’s enthusiastic support reflects its conviction that moving forward to the next stage of the project would strengthen the Guggenheim network.”
Helsinki’s government, which would fund the project, is expected to consider the proposal next month. If all goes according to plan, the new branch could open in 2017. (The Guggenheim, for the record, currently has spaces in Berlin, New York, Venice and Bilbao, Spain.)
Meanwhile, work has been halted on the Guggenheim’s Abu Dhabi branch since Oct. 2011, and the planned opening for 2013 has been pushed to 2015. We’ll see which branch—if any—opens its doors first.