Architect Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, which opened in 1997, is a distinctive and innovative building that looks more like a modern sculpture than a traditional museum. In a sense, it is a work of art that houses art, illustrating its purpose on its distinctive exterior and by contrasting with its surroundings.
Located on the waterfront in one of northern Spain’s chief port cities, beneath a recently-completed bridge, it reflects certain aspects of its industrial surroundings while also adding new life to a somewhat bleak environment. Many of the buildings around it look like conventional, older low-rise structures, and a railyard is located close to the museum, reminding the viewer that this is an industrial city.
With its long, narrow plan, the building vaguely resembles a ship (especially because it is close enough to the water to reflect in it), though its contorting, shiny exterior also makes it seem somewhat like a fish in motion. Right angles are somewhat uncommon in this structure, which undulates and curves throughout its space.
The building’s layout defies conventional museum design. Built of steel, brick, and cement, most of its exterior is covered with small rectangular sheets of titanium siding, which gives it a smooth, shiny silver look, making it stand out from the mostly plain-looking surroundings. Only the north entrance area resembles a conventional building, with rectangular forms and tall glass doors. Also, unlike the rest of the building, this section displays the underlying bricks and steel. (Also, outside the building stands a tall metal spider, which seems to be a piece of public sculpture and signifies the building’s purpose as an art museum.) Its main entrance is sunken and accessible from a wide, gradual stairway.
In the main body of the museum, numerous twisting forms project from the center, looking as though the building is a ship, with numerous smaller decks rising below a small one at the top. Beneath this topmost point, a large glass atrium opens, with its window slanting away from the viewer as it rises. A sort of canopy covers it, giving it the look of a protected space. Elsewhere in the museum, glass walls rise either straight from the ground or at slanted angles, creating a somewhat disorienting effect and using space and shape in unconventional ways.
The building evokes respect for its creator. Gehry, a renowned architect, has been an innovator in building design for much of his career, and several of his buildings (such as the Weisman Museum in Minneapolis) also use the unusual motif of titanium siding and curving projections, making them appear more like sculptures than conventional buildings. He creates buildings that defy their surroundings with their unconventional appearances, and this one certainly stands apart from Bilbao’s generally ordinary-looking cityscape.
In addition, the building creates a mood of intense interest. The inventive use of shapes and spaces is intriguing, making one wonder how Gehry conceived it. It is very much unlike other museum buildings, which often look dignified but bland and ordinary. This building looks more like a work of art. Also, the titanium exterior reflects the sunlight, which gives the building a different color depending on the time of day, angle of the sun, and cloud cover. At times it appears silver, at others almost golden or bright orange, making it use nature for its coloring instead of depending on artificially-applied colors.
The Guggenheim Museum is an inventive building on many different levels, from its shape and siding to the way it reflects its waterfront location. It not only houses works of art but is an artwork on its own terms, capturing the visitor’s attention and even competing with the masterpieces it displays.
REFERENCES
Sullivan, M.A. (2005). Images of the Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved 8 May 2006 from http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/spain/bilbao/gehryguggenheim.
Tutor, J. (2002). Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Retrieved 8 May 2006 from http://www.kirikou.com/tuttifrutti/guggenheim/guggenheim.htm.
