The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao – Architecture as Art
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is fascinating – the building itself is considered as equally interesting as the art exhibited inside of it. Its organic shapes and strange silhouette are representative of Frank Gehry’s signature architectural style. It was built in a central part of Bilbao, next to the river Nervión, in an area previously used for industrial purposes, as part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation network of museums, with branches in New York, Venice, Abu Dhabi and Helsinki.
Gehry is one of the masters of Modern Deconstructivism (though this is not a term he uses himself), which refers to his constant challenging and unpacking geometric shapes traditionally used in architecture, in this way creating new and unexpected silhouettes. He likes to use unusual materials, such as titanium (which makes the museum’s exterior resemble fish scales), corrugated sheet metal and other metal alloys. His main principle in work is approach the project in a playful manner, his motto being “if you know what you are going to do before you do it, don’t do it.”
The interiors of the museum mirror its organic exteriors, through irregular corridors and varying volumes, interconnected by suspended walkways and stair towers that follow the curved lines of the building structure. In Gehry’ words: “The randomness of the curves is designed to catch the light”.
The atrium is the building’s central point, illuminated both by an upper window and by windows overlooking the river. In total, the museum has 20 galleries, arranged on three levels. Equally important is how the large windows connect the interior with the surrounding Basque landscape, making the experience less generic and instead focused on the aesthetic qualities of Bilbao and the Basque Country.
Gehry also designed the area around the museum, including a small artificial lake. The museum – an initiative of the Basque government – was inaugurated in 1997, as part of a plan to revitalize the town of Bilbao by making it attractive to people with an invested interest in culture. Through Guggenheim, the formerly industrial city was transformed into something else, more vibrant. The project was an immediate success, with The New Yorker’s art critic describing it as, “a fantastic dream ship of undulating forms in a cloak of titanium”.
