Image: Architecture & Design Museum, Helsinki
The Architecture & Design Museum in Helsinki will open ‘Eteläranta 6’, a temporary event, meeting and public-engagement space, during Helsinki Design Week from 28 August to 6 September 2026. Located near the Market Square and close to the museum’s current main site on Korkeavuorenkatu, the three-storey venue is intended to host discussions, workshops and other programmes on the role of architecture and design in the city.
Eteläranta 6 is housed in a Jugendstil building overlooking Helsinki’s South Harbour. The museum says the space will also offer a view towards the future site of its new museum in the Eteläsatama district. It will be open to the public during scheduled programming, while communities and companies will be able to reserve the rooms for meetings, workshops, launches and private events.
The interiors have been designed by Studio Joanna Laajisto according to circular-economy principles. Almost all of the materials and furnishings have been reused, and the rooms incorporate objects and furniture from the Architecture & Design Museum’s collections, including pieces by leading Finnish designers from its working collection. Laajisto has given each level a distinct character: softly toned event and exhibition rooms occupy the ground floor, a darker library fills the middle level, and workshop and meeting spaces are located on the light-filled upper floor.
The middle floor will also house the Juhani Pallasmaa Reference Library. Pallasmaa, an internationally known architect, architectural theorist and professor, donated his personal library of approximately 12,000 volumes to the museum’s collections in 2013. The library presentation at Eteläranta 6 comprises roughly one-tenth of the full collection and was curated by the museum’s information specialist Suvi Juvonen. The selection reflects Pallasmaa’s interests in architecture, art, photography, film, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, literature and poetry, as well as his engagement with cultural and intellectual traditions from around the world.
The books will be available for reading at Eteläranta 6 but cannot be borrowed. In an essay published by the museum, Pallasmaa describes the library’s importance and recalls collecting books during international travels and professional visits. He writes that books can guide consciousness and thought through their presence, and describes a good selection as something that grounds and nourishes the imagination.
Eteläranta 6’s first public event will take place on Monday, 31 August, from 4 to 6 p.m. The English-language panel will examine what role a museum and a venue such as Eteläranta 6 can play as places for social discussion, both now and in the future. Researcher and journalist Katja Lindroos will moderate a conversation with Demos Helsinki researcher Aleksi Neuvonen and Carson Chan, the museum’s chief curator responsible for content. Visitors will be able to tour the space after the discussion until 6 p.m.
During Helsinki Design Week, Eteläranta 6 will function as one of the festival’s official meeting points. The museum’s wider programme, running from 28 August to 6 September, includes activities at its Korkeavuorenkatu 23 headquarters, at Eteläranta 6 and elsewhere in Helsinki. The temporary venue is not fully accessible: the Jugendstil building has stairs, no lift and multiple levels.
