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Kiasma is a contemporary art museum located on Mannerheimintie in Helsinki, Finland. Its name kiasma, Finnish for Optic chiasm, alludes to the basic conceptual idea of its architect, Steven Holl. Kiasma is part of the Finnish National Gallery, and it is responsible for the gallery's contemporary art collection. Its central goal is to showcase contemporary art and to strengthen its status.
An architectural design competition to design a building for the contemporary arts museum was held in 1992. The competition was open to architects from the Nordic countries and Baltic countries, in addition to which four architects or studios from elsewhere were invited to participate, though they were obliged to submit their proposals anonymously: Steven Holl from the US, Alvaro Siza from Portugal, Coop Himmelb(l)au from Austria, and Kazuo Shinohara from Japan.The Open Nordic/Baltic Design Competition for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki. Architectural Competitions in Finland, 5/1993. The competition results were announced in 1993, and the winning proposal, titled Chiasma by Steven Holl, was selected from the 516 submitted entries. The design of the building, Finnish-ized as "Kiasma", underwent slight modification during the design process, but nevertheless was regarded as controversial; for instance its close proximity to the equestrian statue of Finnish President Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.G. Griffiths, "Steven Holl and His Critics", Ptah, 1/2006. Construction work began in 1996, and the museum opened in May 1998.
The museum attracted 160,000–180,000 visitors per year in 2011–2013.
Kiasma was closed for repairs in September 2014 and reopened in March 2015. In 2016, Kiasma attracted over 310,000 visitors.
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