Japanese media group The Asahi Shimbun has made a donation to the New Museum of Architecture & Design in Helsinki, Finland. The company publishes one of the largest newspapers in Japan and has a long history of introducing international art, culture, and history to Japanese audiences. In addition to the donation, the parties have agreed to produce several exhibitions of Finnish design in Japan between 2024 and 2034.

The Asahi Shimbun has a long-term collaboration with the Finnish Design Museum, soon to merge with the New Museum of Architecture & Design, on exporting exhibitions to Japan. Following in the wake of the Marimekko exhibition, which attracted considerable attention in Japan, the Iittala exhibition is touring some of the leading museums in Japan until 2024.

"The Asahi Shimbun’s donation to the New Museum of Architecture & Design is a great indication of the global interest in the new museum. Finnish architecture and design have a strong legacy internationally, and our story of using design and architecture to build a secure welfare society is especially inspiring today. We are delighted to continue cooperation with The Asahi Shimbun and to further strengthen the ties between Finnish and Japanese design philosophies," says Kaarina Gould, Project Director and CEO of the Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design.

"The new museum is intended to be a dynamic hub for international dialogue. Therefore we are inviting international partners to contribute to the new museum’s founding process."


‍A new national museum of architecture and design is coming to Helsinki, Finland. A newly established Foundation for the Finnish Museum of Architecture and Design is leading the process of composing a project plan on the concept and design of the new museum, the final funding decisions for which are expected during 2023. The new museum will merge the Museum of Finnish Architecture and the Design Museum and their globally significant collections of Finnish architecture and design into one. A new museum building will be situated on Helsinki’s historic seafront, in the South Harbour’s Makasiiniranta district.