As already mentioned in my previous post the Central Finland Museum in Jyväskylä had undergone a major renovation and finally today opened again its doors for visitors. I arrived to the museum just a couple of minutes before the official opening time at 11 am. Despite the rainy weather, there was quite an amount of interested visitors waiting in front of the still closed doors, when those opened just on time. I had already the chance to take a closer look at the exterior of the building last summer when the renovations had been completed outside. However, it still took another 7 months for the interior to be finalized before the museum was finally ready again to re-open for visitors. Therefore, I would like to first share the exterior shots I took last summer which I had saved for this post, before showing more of the museum's interior.
While exterior hadn't been alternated a lot, the building somehow appeared different to me. I had a similar impression also when I entered the building and indeed the lobby had undergone some major changes. All appeared much lighter and roomier to me.
I was the third visitor today to put my name into the guest book of the museum that had a special page today dedicated to all visitors that had attended the re-opening of the museum.
The exhibition spaces on the first, second and third floor had been updated. While the changing exhibition space on the first floor looked quite similar than in the past, the second and third floor permanent exhibition on the history of Central Finland and Jyväskylä had changed significantly.
However, as the exhibitions were not designed by Alvar Aalto I didn't pay too much attention on those but focused more on the lobby, the staircases and additional rooms that were not part of the exhibitions. Besides those, I took also a closer look at the fourth floor which again celebrates Aalto's genius abilities to bring in as much natural light to the art exhibition, housed on that level, as possible.
The absolute highlight of the renovation, however, was the changes made to the conference/class room on the fourth floor which featured Aalto's beautiful wave-shaped wooden roof, similar to the one that can be found at the Vyborg Library. To my knowledge this room didn't feature such a wave-shaped wooden roof before.
In summary I would say that the long and certainly also costly renovation has really transferred this building into a jewel and into a must destination for all Jyväskylä visitors, not only Aalto fans. The close proximity to the Alvar Aalto Museum, which is literally located next doors, makes a visit even more appealing.
