Over the next two and a half years, the Alvar Aalto Museum and the Museum of Central Finland will together create a new Museum Centre in Jyväskylä’s Ruusupuisto neighbourhood after the Alvar Aalto Museum’s renovation and the construction of a new connecting wing between the museum buildings are complete. The future museum hub is now looking for an engaging name to describe the two different museums.    

The museum centre will encompass two separate museums: The Alvar Aalto Museum (1971–1973) is the nationally designated museum of Alvar Aalto’s heritage of architecture and design. The Museum of Central Finland (1956–61, 1991) is the designated regional museum of Central Finland. 2023 will see the opening of a museum centre focused on cultural heritage, the cultural environment, architecture, and design, more than the sum of its parts. The connecting wing will enable the museums to share functions, and offers a new dimension in which to develop high-quality exhibitions and events as well as offer cafeteria and restaurant services. The museum complex opening in 2023 will be an interesting, attractive, and affecting whole, a viewpoint into the past as well as the future.   

The museum centre is now looking for a new name, and our future audience have the chance to have their say. We are accepting suggestions for the new name between 15 March and 15 April 2021 on the project’s new website: www.ruusupuistonmuseokeskus.fi  

We are looking for a unique, memorable, and clear name that is easy to use in a sentence. The name should be good for Finnish and international audience alike, and describe the two different museums and the content they offer.    

A word cloud of the suggestions will be released on 22 April 2021 on the project website. The final name of the museum centre will be revealed at a later date. 10 Museum Cards and 10 Aalto stools will be raffled among those who have suggested names.   

The name of the future museum centre will be selected by the board of the project, which includes Heli-Maija Voutilainen (City of Jyväskylä, Director of Museums), Tommi Lindh (Alvar Aalto Foundation, Managing Director), Tuula Vuolio-Vallenius (Museum of Central Finland, Senior Curator; Exhibitions), Katariina Pakoma (Alvar Aalto Foundation, Chief Curator), Mirkku Kullberg (Glasshouse Helsinki, CEO), and Nina Heikkonen (Museum Vision Project, Coordinator).    

On the Ruusupuisto Museum Centre website, you may follow the latest news from the project all the way to the completion of the new museum centre. You can find the website at www.ruusupuistonmuseokeskus.fi   

 
More information:
Nina Heikkonen
Project Coordinator
Ruusupuisto Museum Centre, The Museum Vision Project
nina.heikkonen@alvaraalto.fi 
Tel. +358 44 500 1257

Photographs:
1. The Alvar Aalto Museum (1971-73) and the Museum of Central Finland. Photo Maija Holma © Alvar Aalto Foundation.
2. The Main Exhibition Hall of the Alvar Aalto Museum. Photo Maija Holma © Alvar Aalto Foundation.
3. The Exhibition Hall of the Museum of Central Finland. Photo Raisa Nerg © Museum of Central Finland.