Chappe Art House
Chappe Art House
JKMM Architects
ARCHITECTS
Jkmm Architects
ARCHITECT
Teemu Toivio, Edit Bajsz, Marcus Kujala
CLIENT
Albert De La Chapelle Foundation, Albert De La Chapelle Foundation, Albert De La Chapelle Foundation
INTERIOR DESIGN
Jkmm Architects
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS
Wsp Finland Oy
ACOUSTICS
Wsp Finland Oy
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Wsp Finland Oy
FIRE SAFETY
Jensen Hughes Oy, Jensen Hughes Oy, Jensen Hughes Oy
LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Wsp Finland Oy
M&E ENGINEERS
Granlund Oy
PROJECT LEADER
Asmo Jaaksi
PROJECT ARCHITECT
Gerrie Bekhuis
DESIGNER
Peter Vuorenrinne
INTERIOR ARCHITECT
Laura Hämäläinen
METALWORKS
Raaseporin Peltisepänliike Oy Ab, Rheinzink, Raaseporin Peltisepänliike Oy Ab, Rheinzink, Raaseporin Peltisepänliike Oy Ab, Rheinzink
ARCHITECTS
Teemu Taskinen, Teemu Kurkela, Samuli Miettinen, Juha Mäki-jyllilä
ENTRANCE LIGHTING INSTALLATION’SPEGLING
Petri Vainio
MAIN STAIR’S CERAMIC ARTWORK ’MERI’
Karin Widnäs
INSTALLATION ’MEMENTO’
Saija Kassinen, Meri Linna
MAIN HALL FURNISHINGS
Atte Pylvänäinen, Kari Virtanen
SIGNAGE
Werklig Oy, Werklig Oy, Werklig Oy
GLAZING
Jaatimet Oy, Jaatimet Oy, Jaatimet Oy
ARCHITECTURE
Jkmm Architects, Jkmm Architects, Jkmm Architects
AREA
1210 M²
LOCATION
Ekenäs, Finland
CATEGORY
Arts & Architecture
Chappe is a new three-storey art house by the sea located on the southern coast of Finland in the historic town of Tammisaari founded in 1546 and known for its timber architecture dating back to the 18th Century.
A popular summer destination, Tammisaari punches above its weight in terms of its cultural offer with museums, galleries and a cinema dating from 1912. Located in the museum quarter in the heart of Tammisaari's old town, Chappe is a 1,210 sqm addition to this mix of cultural attractions.
In fact, an essential element of JKMM's brief in designing the art house was to connect it to the existing art complex set in and around the regional Raseborg Museum.
Physically, this is achieved through an underground link from the basement level of Chappe and through a shared museum garden.
The Chappe Art House is focused on exhibiting contemporary art with a programme of two main exhibitions per year.
Its name – Chappe – is derived from its founding donator Professor Albert de la Chapelle (1933–2020) whose support made this project possible.
De la Chapelle was a medical doctor and prominent researcher in the field of molecular genetics in addition to being an avid collector of Nordic art.
He grew up in Lindö some 20km from Tammisaari, so Chappe is very much a project that is rooted in the family's history.
The Chairman of the Albert de la Chapelle Art Foundation, Henrik de la Chapelle says, "Chappe is an important addition to Tammisaari, bringing year-around cultural interest to a traditionally seasonal seaside destination and thereby making a significant contribution to both the social and economic vitality of the region."
ARCHITECTURAL APPROACH
The black spruce clad elevations of the new art house play on traditional Finnish timber architecture.
The detailing of the elevations emphasise the importance of craft and how this works its way into a wholly contemporary architectural idiom.
Inside the building, JKMM's lofty spaces recall the notion of the hall as a building typology.
This has been an important aspect for Chappe as the building will also host events and community uses in addition to housing museum grade galleries.
For Asmo Jaaksi founding partner at JKMM and project lead on Chappe, the contextualisation of museum and gallery architecture is of particular interest, having seen firsthand how important this was for the success of the practice's Amos Rex Art Museum project in Helsinki that was widely celebrated as a "homegrown star".
Jaaksi says, "In our buildings, we have wanted to focus on how museum or for that matter any arts space architecture relates to the immediate experience of place, adding both a sense of rootedness and also something wholly new that brings about vitality to the local community.
The detailing of the elevations emphasise the importance of craft and how this works its way into a wholly contemporary architectural idiom.Inside the building, JKMM's lofty spaces recall the notion of the hall as a building typology.
This, I feel is especially important for cultural buildings, as they are the very things that give places identity by bringing people together, but only if people feel welcome and can take ownership of them.
" THE SPACES - JKMM have expressed the timber structure of the building on its upper levels as a way of introducing tactility and warmth into the galleries. The main exhibition galleries are located on the top of the building on level two.
On level one – in Finland, the ground floor – the key spaces are the main entrance and a generous multi-purpose foyer connected to a picturesque museum garden shared with its neighbouring institutions. JKMM has worked closely with artists on pieces that work as part of Chappe's architecture.
For example, in the foyer there is a large ceramic work by Karin Widnäs as well as a light installation by Petri Vainio with whom JKMM also collaborated as architects of the Amos Rex Art Museum in Helsinki.
JKMM's Asmo Jaaksi says that "The integration of art installations is a precedent from early Modernism that we welcome in our work as architects.
Collaborating with Finnish artists at Chappe has been a good way to continue this tradition." JKMM also collaborated with a local carpenter to create furniture including benches for Chappe and worked with a local contractor.
This notion of locality is an essential part of Chappe's architecture with the sculptural form of the building woven into its neighbourhood creating a distinctly contextual landmark. The carefully considered views from within the building also tie it to its setting with their framed vistas of the sea and the old town.
Inside light levels can be controlled to achieve optimum conditions for the preservation of art works. Humidity control, too, is conceived in a way that meets the conditions required by insurers and conservators for the loaning of art works.
Moreover, the building's structure is engineered to carry significant loads to support, for example, the exhibiting of sculptures. It has also been designed to support unassisted access for the public including the use of pushchairs throughout.
THE EXHIBITIONS
There will be three coinciding opening exhibitions at Chappe. They are 1) Barösund 1870 -> 2023, the first in a series of shows inspired by the de la Chapelle collection 2) The "Amazing and Magical" exhibition that recounts Chappe's founder's story and the making the new building 3) An exhibition called "Climate and Art – Alternative Approaches" that introduces audiences to a cultural perspective to ecological reconstruction.
Entry to Chappe is ticketed at 12/9 euros. Tickets can be purchased at Chappe or via Raseborg Museum that also houses a café and museum shop both of which are accessible for visitors to Chappe.
