NEW YORK, NY.- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation announced the launch of an online gallery that allows web visitors to explore the submissions received for Stage One of the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition. The gallery is the first public presentation of the entries and can be found at the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition website.

Each entry is represented by two images along with a brief concept summary provided by competitors. In keeping with the anonymous nature of the competition, entries are identified only by registration number. A map indicates the number of submissions received by country. Visitors also can sort submissions by selecting tags chosen by competitors to describe their design concept. Reflecting the official jury process, users can create and share their own short list of six entries.

On October 15 as part of the New York City’s annual Archtober festival, the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition was the subject of a discussion on the future of museum architecture held at the Center for Architecture. Joel Sanders, professor adjunct, Yale School of Architecture, led the panel discussion, noting that "Competitions change the history of architecture." Panel participants included jury members Nancy Spector, Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; Jeanne Gang, founder and principal, Studio Gang Architects; Cara Cragan, Director of Architectural Projects, Helsinki and Abu Dhabi, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation; and Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen, Associate Professor, Yale School of Architecture.

Cragan cited Helsinki's past architectural competitions as important precedent for the museum, saying, "There is a long and proud history of open anonymous competition in Helsinki and that really resonated with us." Summing up the aims of the competition, Spector said, "We are really looking for bold new ideas," and Gang said that judges would be considering "the architecture and the ability of that architecture to act with this new vision of art and how we engage with art."

The short list of six entries for the Guggenheim Helsinki Design Competition will be announced on December 2.