Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Out
of the box
Copyright Š 2013 by Winn Chen, student project. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieal system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without permission of copy right holder. Printed in the United States of America Storefront Books for Art and Architecture Address: 250 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94108 Phone: (415) 642-2340 storefrontpolitical.com
Dedicated to my beloved family and friends.
CONTENT CONT
GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM BILBAO Date of Opening
4
East side Aerial Views
6
Glass and Titanium
8
Spider Series
12
TENT INSIDE OF THE MUSEUM Inside the Hall
16
Interior
18
Interior Design
22
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MUSEUM Structure
26
FRANK GEHRY
Personal life
36
Architectural style
40
INTRODU INTRODUCTION
UCTION Blobitecture from blob architecture, blobism or blobismus are terms for a movement in architecture in which buildings have an organic, amoeba-shaped, bulging form. Though the term ‘blob architecture’ was in vogue already in the mid-1990s, the word blobitecture first appeared in print in 2002, in William Safire’s “On Language” column in the New York Times Magazine in an article entitled Defenestration. Though intended in the article to have a derogatory meaning, the word stuck and is often used to describe buildings with curved and rounded shapes. The term ‘blob architecture’ was coined by architect Greg Lynn in 1995 in his experiments in digital design with metaball graphical software. Soon a range of architects and furniture designers began to experiment with this “blobby” software to create new and unusual forms. Despite its seeming organicism, blob architecture is unthinkable without this and other similar computer-aided design programs. Architects derive the forms by manipulating the algorithms of the computer modeling platform.
Guggenheim Muse
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
d at e o f o p e n i n g
Plans for a new museum in Bilbao date to the late 1980s, when the Basque Administration began formulating a major redevelopment of the region. Almost from the moment it opened in 1997, Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, with its distinctive titanium curves and soaring glass atrium, was hailed as one of the most important buildings of the 20th century. Gehry’s use of cutting-edge computer-aided design technology enabled him to translate poetic forms into reality. The resulting architecture is sculptural and expressionistic, with spaces unlike any others for the presentation of art. The museum is seamlessly integrated into the urban context, unfolding its interconnecting shapes of stone, glass, and titanium on a 32,500-square-meter site along the Nervión River in the old industrial heart of the city. The largest gallery, measuring 30 Established October 18, 1997 In moving forward with the museAbando, Bilbao, Spain meters wide and 130 meters long, Location Type Art museum um a site was selected and three was used for temporary exhibitions Visitors 1,002,963 (2007) architects, Arata Isozaki from Ja951,369 (2008) for several years. In 2005, it be- Director Juan Ignacio Vidarte pan, Coop Himmelb from Austria, came the site of the largest sculpand Frank O. Gehry from the Unitture commission in history, Richard ed States, were invited to particiSerra’s monumental installation The pate in a competition to produce a Matter of Time. The Guggenheim conceptual design. These were no Museum Bilbao is a pinnacle in Gehrequirements in terms of drawings ry’s outstanding architectural career as or models to be produced; rather, well as in the field of museum design. the architects were only asked to It remains unsurpassed in its integration present what they thought would of art and architecture, maintaining an convey their concept for the new aesthetic and programmatic unity. When museum. Eleven thousand square the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened meters of exhibition space are to the public in 1997, it was immediately distributed over nineteen gallerhailed as one of the world’s most spectacuies. Ten of these galleries have a lar buildings in the style of Deconstructivism classic orthogonal plan and can be (although Gehry does not associate himself identified from the exterior by their with that architectural movement), a masstone finishes. terpiece of the 20th century. Architect Philip Johnson described it as “the greatest building of our time”,while critic Calvin Tomkins, in The New Yorker, characterized it as “a fantastic dream ship of undulating form in a cloak of titanium,” its brilliantly reflective panels also reminiscent of fish scales.Herbert Muschamp praised its “mercurial brilliance” in The New York Times Magazine. The Independent calls the museum “an astonishing architectural feat”. The building inspired other structures of similar design across the globe, such as the Cerritos Millennium Library.
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Once in the plaza, visitors access the Hall by making their way down a broad stairway, an unusual feature that successfully overcomes the height difference between the areas alongside the Nervi贸n River, where the Museum stands, and the higher city level.
This side hugs the Puente de La Salve, a bridge over the Nervi贸n River and one of the main highways into Bilbao. A pedestrian walkway gives spectacular aerial views.
east side aerial view
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g l a s s a n d t i ta n i u m
The glass walls are made and assembled in a complex metallic structure whose realization was made possible by recent technological advances that led to doubt that the project was feasible as Frank Gehry had designed. The glass is treated to become totally translucent while protecting the interior from radiation and heat from the sun. The building’s curved shapes recall organic ones, something characteristic of the buildings Frank O. Gehry. Titanium coating the structure changes color depending on light conditions and has a roughness soght by the architect as an artistic expression way.
Most pieces came from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection.
In 1997, the museum opened with “The Guggenheim Museums and the Art of This Century”, a 300-piece overview of 20th-century art from Cubism to new media art. Most pieces came from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection, but the museum also acquired paintings by Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still and commissioned new works by Francesco Clemente, Anselm Kiefer, Jenny Holzer and Richard Serra. The exhibitions change often; the museum generally hosts thematic exhibitions, centered for example on Chinese or Russian art. Traditional paintings and sculptures are a minority compared to installations and electronic forms.
8 | 9
The work of American architect Frank O. Gehry, the Guggenheim Museum has played a key role in the urban revitalization and transformation of the area, in addition to becoming the symbol of the city of Bilbao, Spain. The building is a perfect example of the more avant-garde architecture of the twentieth century and represents a landmark for its innovative architectural design both abroad and domestically, forming a seductive backdrop for the exhibition of contemporary art. Visits can be made to both the interior and the exterior of the building. “Dematerialization” of the art object, as the prevailing movements of that period favored works created with an economy of means, often focusing on an idea or concept rather than the object itself. By contrast, the early 1980s were characterized by a return to the traditions of painting and sculpture. It was during this period, after two decades dominated by the aesthetics of Minimal and Conceptual art, that Julian Schnabel played a critical role in the emergence of Neo-Expressionist painting in the United States, the gestural brushstrokes and figurative subject matter of his paintings representing a radical shift in art making. Schnabel first came to prominence in 1979, when he began exhibiting his signature plate paintings, featuring shards of broken crockery embedded in Bondo (a putty-like polyester resin) and loosely overpainted with crude images in oil paint. Notable for their heroic scale, distorted subjects, and flamboyant textures, the plate paintings were inspired by a 1978 visit to Barcelona, where Schnabel encountered mosaics by the Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí. In works such as the monumental Spain, he transferred the mosaic surface to painting, transforming both in the process: the broken plates and cups project out from the surface like jagged, sculptural brushstrokes, disrupting the picture plane. The swirling colors of the plate paintings often depict legendary figures; some recall the work of Pablo Picasso, but Schnabel has drawn from a variety of sources, including El Greco and cultural artifacts from Mexico. The disembodied head in the center of Spain is a recurrent image in the artist’s work. Here it appears to be situated in a bullfighting ring beside a burladero, the barrier behind which the bullfighter protects himself from the bull. With its snoutlike form, this head is equally suggestive of both bull and bullfighter. Schnabel has had a longstanding fascination with Spain and Spanish culture. A further reference to the country is suggested here by the palette, with its yellows and reds corresponding to the colors of the Spanish national flag. The work of American architect Frank O. Gehry, the Guggenheim Museum has played a key role in the urban revitalization and transformation of the area, in addition to becoming the symbol of the city of Bilbao, Spain. The building is a perfect example of the more avant-garde architecture of the twentieth century and represents a landmark for its innovative architectural design both abroad and domestically, forming a seductive backdrop for the exhibition of contemporary art. Visits can be made to both the interior and the exterior of the building. “Dematerialization” of the art object, as the prevailing movements of that period favored works created with an economy of means, often focusing on an idea or concept rather than the object itself. By contrast, the early 1980s were characterized by a return to the traditions of painting and sculpture. It was during this period, after two decades dominated by the aesthetics of Minimal and Conceptual art, that Julian Schnabel played a critical role
Maman (1999) is a sculpture by the artist Louise Bour- Louise Bourgeois geois. The sculpture, which resembles a spider, is Maman, 1999 amongst the world’s largest, measuring over 30 ft high Bronze, marble, and stainless steel and over 33 ft wide, with a sac containing 26 marble 895 x 980 x 1.160 cm eggs. Its abdomen and thorax are made up of ribbed Cast 2001 Edition 2/6 + A.P. bronze. The title is the familiar French word for Moth- Guggenheim Bilbao Museoa er. The sculpture was created by Bourgeois as a part of her inaugural commission of The Unilever Series in 1999 for Tate Modern’s vast Turbine Hall. The sculpture picks up the theme of the arachnid that Bourgeois had first contemplated in a small ink and charcoal drawing in 1947. It alludes to the strength of Bourgeois’ mother, with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection. Her mother Josephine was a woman who repaired tapestries in her father’s textile restoration workshop in Paris. Bourgeois lost her mother at the age of twenty-one. A few days afterwards, in front of Over a career that spanned some seven her father who did not seem to take his daughdecades, Louise Bourgeois created a rich ter’s des-pair seriously, she threw herself into and ever-changing body of work that interthe Bièvre River; he swam to her rescue. sected with some of the leading avant-garde movements of the 20th century, including Surrealism, Abstract Expressionism, and Post-Minimalism, while remaining steadfast to her own singular creative vision. While Bourgeois’s oeuvre includes painting, drawing, printmaking, and performance, she is best known for her sculptures, which range in scale from the intimate to the monumental and employ a diverse array of mediums, including wood, bronze, latex, marble, and fabric. Her work is at once deeply personal—with frequent references to painful childhood memories of an unfaithful father and a loving but complicit mother—and universal, confronting the bittersweet ordeal of being human. Almost 9 meters tall, Maman is one of the most ambitious of a series of sculptures by Bourgeois that take as their subject the spider, a motif that first appeared in several of the artist’s drawings in the 1940s and came to assume a central place in her work during the 1990s. Intended as a tribute to her mother, who was a weaver, Bourgeois’s spiders are highly contradictory as emblems of maternity: they suggest both protector and predator—the silk of a spider is used both to construct cocoons and to bind prey—and embody both strength and fragility. Such ambiguities are powerfully figured in the mammoth Maman, which hovers ominously on legs like Gothic arches that act at once as a cage and as a protective lair to a sac full of eggs perilously attached to her undercarriage. The spider provokes awe and fear, yet her massive height, improbably balanced on slender legs, conveys an almost poignant vulnerability.
spider series
12 | 13
nside of the Meuse
Inside of the Meuseum
inside the hall
Well before the Guggenheim Mus-eum Bilbao opened its doors to the public on October 19, 1997, the new museum was making news. The numerous artists, architects, journalists, politicians, filmmakers, and historians that visited the building site in the mere four years of its construction anticipated the success of the venture. Frank Gehry’s limestone, glass, and titanium building was hailed by architect Philip Johnson as “the greatest building of our time” and the pioneering collaboration between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Basque authorities was seen to challenge assumptions about art museum collecting and programming. Located on the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the fourth largest city in Spain, one of the country’s most important ports, and a center for manufacturing, shipping, and commerce. The play with different volumes and perspectives generates indoor spaces where visitors do not feel overwhelmed. Such variety has demonstrated its enormous versatility in the expert hands of curators and exhibition designers who have found the ideal atmosphere to present both large format works in contemporary mediums and smaller or more intimate shows. In addition to the gallery space and a separate office building, the Museum has a visitor orientation room, Zero Espazioa; an auditorium seating 300; a store/bookstore; a cafeteria; and two restaurants: a bistro and a one Michelin star haute cuisine restaurant. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation selected Frank Gehry as the architect, and its director, Thomas Krens, encouraged him to design something daring and innovative. The curves on the exterior of the building were intended to appear random; the architect said that “the randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light”. The interior “is designed around a large, light-filled atrium with views of Bilbao’s estuary and the surrounding hills of the Basque country.” The atrium, which Gehry nicknamed The Flower because of its shape, serves as the organizing center of the museum.
Architect Philip Johnson described it as “the greatest building of our time”, while critic Calvin Tomkins, in The New Yorker, characterized it as “a fantastic dream ship of undulating form in a cloak of titanium,” its brilliantly reflective panels also reminiscent of fish scales. Herbert Muschamp praised its “mercurial brilliance” in The New York Times Magazine. The Independent calls the museum “an astonishing architectural feat”. The building inspired other structures of similar design across the globe, such as the Cerritos Millennium Library in. The museum is seamlessly integrated into the urban context, unfolding its interconnecting shapes of stone, glass and titanium on a 32,500-square-meter site along the Nervión River in the old industrial heart of the city; while modest from street level, it is most impressive when viewed from the river. With a total 256,000 square feet, it had more exhibition space than the three Guggenheim collections in New York and Venice combined at that time. Eleven thousand square meters of exhibition space are distributed over nineteen galleries,ten of which follow a classic orthogonal plan that can be identified from the exterior by their stone finishes.
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An architectural competition led tothe selection of California-based architect Gehry, known for his use of unorthodox materials and inventive forms,
The remaining nine galleries are irregularly shaped and can be identified from the outside by their swirling organic forms and titanium cladding. The largest gallery, measures 30 meters wide and 130 meters long. In 2005, it housed Richard Serra’s monumental installation “The Matter of Time”, which Robert Hughes dubbed “courageous and sublime”. The building was constructed on time and budget, which is rare for architecture of this type. In an interview in Harvard Design Magazine, Gehry explained how he did it. First, he ensured that what he calls the “organization of the artist” prevailed during construction, to prevent political and business interests from interfering with the design. Second, he made sure he had a detailed and realistic cost estimate before proceeding. Third, he used computer visualizations and collaborated closely with the individual building trades to control costs during construction.
When the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened to the public in 1997, it was immediately hailed as one of the world’s most spectacular buildings in the style of Deconstructivism (although Gehry does not associate himself with that architectural movement), a masterpiece of the 20th century. Architect Philip Johnson described it as “the greatest building of our time”, while critic Calvin Tomkins, in The New Yorker, characterized it as “a fantastic dream ship of undulating form in a cloak of titanium,” its brilliantly reflective panels also reminiscent of fish scales. Herbert Muschamp praised its “mercurial brilliance”in The New York Times Magazine. The Independent calls the museum “an astonishing architectural feat”. The building inspired other structures of similar design across the globe, such as the Cerritos Millennium Library in California. Even the entrance to the Guggenheim is unusual; we descended a wide stairway to go inside. An audio tour is included in the entrance fee which greatly enhanced our experience as we learned about Frank Gehry’s creative process in conceiving this masterpiece. We adjusted our headsets then sat inside the atrium on the ground floor marveling at the sinuous columns rising up adjacent to glass walls, while listening to how it was designed and constructed. I didn’t feel as though I were inside a building but instead within the heart of something alive. It was an emotional experience witnessing the manifestation of one man’s vision and I was amazed that such an unusual and sophisticated design would actually be constructed. Obviously it had required an enormous amount of effort and resources but it had been built regardless and I was very appreciative of that while we were there.
Interior view of the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
interior
It was so beautiful, sensual and divine; an intangible experience that isn’t easily put into words and like many truly remarkable places, it’s difficult to duplicate the experience in photos, although Lauren and I had the time of our lives snapping pictures at every turn. When we were ready to move on from the atrium I was most interested in continuing to experience the “structure” itself even on the inside, but Lauren steered me to the permanent exhibit on the ground floor she had visited on a previous trip with her school. At first I just went along but then quickly became engaged with the interactive sculpture “The Matter of Time” by Richard Serra. There was a film and a lot of information about this artist (who is from San Francisco), and how he constructed his installation pieces, but I was so keen on exploring the structure of the Guggenheim itself that I was reluctant to spend the time learning about the artist. I somewhat regret not pausing in that particular exhibit to learn more about it while I was there, but if I return to the Guggenheim I will.
A large part of the ground floor houses this permanent exhibit which looks as impressive from the overhead view on the second floor as it does while standing in the middle of it.
The Matter of Time is the only permanent exhibit at the Guggenheim in Bilbao and is the largest sculpture commission in history. It is certainly a must-see exhibit! While inside the museum we encountered so many interesting angles and perspectives that constantly changed as we meandered along the upper floor winding walkways. Sunlight filtering through the many glass walls and windows enhanced our experience within the building as well as brightened the many interesting views to the outside. We just couldn’t get enough and were reluctant to leave so we changed our plans, skipping menu del dia at a a recommended restaurant downtown, to eat at the museum cafe, which turned out to be a delight in itself. The elevated cafe terrace hugs the side of the museum, our table against its titanium wall.
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Having never worked on a museum before, Hetrick has been impressed with the sophistication and complexity of the design itself. From the cantilevers extending as much as 65 feet from their load-bearing elements to the curtain walls with their tube steel frames and glass panels that extend three full storiesfrom grade to roof, Hetrick said, “It’s just amazing that the engineers and designers can make such long spans work with such minimal supports visible from the outside. The whole exterior—glass, steel, and stone—is a piece of art, like a canvas hanging on the exterior walls.” Todd Nemecek, the construction administrator for Integrated Design Systems (IDS), the local associated architects based in Troy, Michigan, interprets the construction drawings on site and serves as the liaison between the design In the late 1980s the Basque auarchitects and the contractors and engineers. thorities embarked on an ambitious “Working on such a high-profile design like redevelopment program for the this is exciting—you don’t build a museum city. By 1991, with new designs for every day,” said Nemecek. “Structurally it’s an airport, a subway system, and a really interesting. The stone portion of the footbridge, among other important exterior skin looks like it’s floating. That is projects by major international archione of the coolest things I’ve ever seen tects such as Norman Foster, Santiago and been a part of—we’re really pushing Calatrava, and Arata Isozaki, the city the limits of gravity.” Fabricating and inplanned to build a first-class cultural stalling the varied and complex glass facility. In April and May of 1991 at the systems was equally challenging—and invitation of the Basque Government thrilling—for the sheer physical beauand the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, ty of the transparent, translucent, and Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon fritted glass elements is one of the R. Guggenheim Foundation, met repeatdesign’s hallmarks. “It has been inedly with officials, signing a preliminary credibly gratifying to witness the agreement to bring a new Guggenheim three-dimensional manifestation of Museum to Bilbao. the Museum after the investment indeveloping and refining the design,”
John Biaglow, senior project manager for the construction firm Skanska, has been pleased by the hidden surprises in Alumni Memorial Hall, including the re-opened skylights in Alumni Memorial Hall’s Apse and the scale of the newly renamed Taubman Gallery. “I’ve felt a real sense of satisfaction bringing these gorgeous spaces back to their former glory,” said Biaglow. “And the interiors throughout are almost works of art themselves. The level of precision and detail is incredible. We’ve been working hard to make sure we get it right.” With base construction wrapping up this summer, construction heads.
With curved volumes and large glass curtain walls that connect the inside and the outside, the Atrium is an ample space flooded with light and covered by a great skylight. The three levels of the building are organized around the Atrium and are connected by means of curved walkways, titanium and glass elevators.
interior design
The real heart of the Museum and one of the sig- The interior “is designed around a large, lightfilled atrium with views of Bilbao’s estuary and nature traits of Frank Gehry’s architectural design. the surrounding hills of the Basque country.” With curved volumes and large glass curtain walls that connect the inside and the outside, the Atrium is an ample space flooded with light and covered by a great skylight. The three levels of the building are organized around the Atrium and are connected by means of curved walkways, titanium and glass elevators, and staircases. Also an exhibition space, the Atrium functions as an axis for the 20 galleries, some orthogonally shaped and with classical proportions and others with organic, irregular lines. The play with different volumes and perspectives generates indoor spaces where visitors do not feel overwhelmed. Such variety has demonstrated its enormous versatility in the expert hands of curators and Once inside the Hall, visitors access the Atrium, the exhibition designers who have real heart of the Museum and one of the signature found the ideal atmosphere to traits of Frank Gehry’s architectural design. With present both large format works curved volumes and large glass curtain walls that conin contemporary mediums and nect the inside and the outside, the Atrium is an amsmaller or more intimate shows. In ple space flooded with light and covered by a great addition to the gallery space and a skylight. The three levels of the building are organized separate office building, the Musearound the Atrium and are connected by means of um has a visitor orientation room, curved walkways, titanium and glass elevators, and Zero Espazioa; an auditorium seatstaircases. Also an exhibition space, the Atrium funcing 300; a store/bookstore; a cafetions as an axis for the 20 galleries, some orthogonally teria; and two restaurants: a bistro shaped and with classical proportions and others with and a one Michelin star haute cuiorganic, irregular lines. sine restaurant. The play with difThe interior is dominated by the central atrium, 50 feet ferent volumes and perspectives high, one of the most impressive and monumental generates indoor spaces where spaces I’ve seen, displaying the dramatic and convovisitors do not feel overwhelmed. luted volumes and circulation galleries that connect Such variety has demonstrated its them. In addition, both the atrium and the galleries enormous versatility in the expert the space visually integrate to the external landscape, hands of curators and exhibition incorporating the cityscape as part of the building designers who have found the component. The elevators are covered by these glass ideal atmosphere to present both plates resembling flakes, another reference to the large format works in contempoaquatic world that were formerly used in “The Dancing rary mediums and smaller or more House”, designed by Gehry and Milunic on the banks intimate shows. of the Vltava River in Prague. The largest room (130 m long), an elongated nave that evokes the shape of a fish, is intended for monumental sculptures. In fact, the works of Richard Serra housed there were made especially for the gallery, and assembled during the the process of construction of it (as was done in the Salon De Maria in the Chichu Art Museum by Tadao Ando, for instance). The rusty-metal color undulating forms swing echoing the space that contain them, to establishing a dialogue with the building. In contrast, the labyrinth is a group of sculptures based on triangular geometry. In contrast, a sequence of galleries on the second level has identical square shapes, which is accessed by a lateral movement.
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Construction of the
Construction of the Museum
structure
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The museum notably houses “largescale, site-specific works and installations by contemporary artists, such as Richard Serra’s 340 ft-long Snake, and displays the work of Basque artists, “as well as housing a selection of works” from the Foundation’s modern art collection. In 1997, the museum opened with “The Guggenheim Museums and the Art of This Century”, a 300-piece overview of 20th-century art from Cubism to new media art. Most pieces came from the Guggenheim’s permanent collection, but the museum also acquired paintings by Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko and Clyfford Still and commissioned new works by Francesco Clemente, Anselm Kiefer, Jenny Holzer and Richard Serra. The exhibitions change often; the museum generally hosts thematic exhibitions, centered for example on Chinese or Russian art. Traditional paintings and sculptures are a minority compared to installations and electronic forms. The highlight of the collection, and its only permanent exhibit, is The Matter of Time (incorporating an earlier work, Snake), a series of weathering steel sculptures designed by Serra, which is housed in the 430-foot (130 m) Arcelor Gallery (formerly known as the Fish Gallery but renamed in 2005 for the steel manufacturer that sponsored the project). The collections usually highlight Avant-garde art, 20th century abstraction, and non-objective art. In 2012 David Hockney’s exhibition drew over 290,000 visitors to the museum. The museum notably houses “large-scale, site-specific works and installations by contemporary artists, such as Richard Serra’s 340 ft-long Snake, and displays the work of Basque artists, “as well as housing a selection of works” from the Foundation’s modern art collection.
When the museum announced the 2011 exhibition “The Luminous Interval”, a show of artwork belonging to Greek businessman Dimitris Daskalopoulos, who is also a museum trustee, this met with criticism of, among other things, too much curatorial power for a serious benefactor.
Well before the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened its doors to the public on October 19, 1997, the new museum was making news. The numerous artists, architects, journalists, politicians, filmmakers, and historians that visited the building site in the mere four years of its construction anticipated the success of the venture. Frank Gehry’s limestone, glass, and titanium building was hailed by architect Located on the Bay of Biscay, Bilbao is the fourth largPhilip Johnson as “the greatest est city in Spain, one of the country’s most important building of our time” and the pioports, and a center for manufacturing, shipping, and neering collaboration between the commerce. In the late 1980s the Basque authorities Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundaembarked on an ambitious redevelopment program for tion and Basque authorities was the city. By 1991, with new designs for an airport, a subseen to challenge assumptions way system, and a footbridge, among other important about art museum collecting and projects by major international architects such as Norprogramming. man Foster, Santiago Calatrava, and Arata Isozaki, the city planned to build a first-class cultural facility. In April and May of 1991 at the invitation of the Basque Government and the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, Thomas Krens, Director of the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Foundation, met repeatedly with officials, signing a preliminary agreement to bring a new Guggenheim Museum to Bilbao. An architectural competition led to the selection of California-based architect Gehry, known for his use of unorthodox materials and inventive forms, and his sensitivity to the urban environment. Gehry’s proposal for the site on the Nervion River ultimately included features that embrace both the identity of the Guggenheim Museum and its new home in the Basque Country.
The building’s glass atrium refers to the famous rotunda of Frank Lloyd Wright’s New York Guggenheim, and its largest gallery is traversed by Bilbao’s Puente de La Salve, a vehicular bridge serving as one of the main gateways to the city.
When construction began on the Museum of Art’s expansion and restoration project in the fall of 2006, no one could have predicted exactly how the pro-
tion more complex facilities to bring to life than office buildings or
schools. Even though Allied Works Ar-
chitecture of Portland, Oregon, recently completed the Seattle Art
Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and building museums, each project, site, and design brings with it unique challenges storing and updating Alumni Memorial Hall and constructing the new Frankel Wing on a tight, essentially urban
every
cess would unfold. Museums, with their exacting climate and security
needs, are by defini-
the project’s general contractor, Skanska, is seasoned in the art of and discoveries. Because of the complex nature of simultaneously site, orchestration and sequencing of construction has been crucial,
task dependent on the next. At the outset, construction appeared to progress slowly. This was largely due to the scope of excavation and the complexity of underground mechanical elements as well as the structural and engineering sophistication
Frankel Wing’s dramatic, visually unsupported cantilevers and ribbed curtain walls. Connecting the old and new—historic Alumni Memorial Hall with the new addition—was one early challenge for the construction team. Differences in grade level between the two
ated significant underpinning before the opening on the north side of the old building could be carved out. Ann Arbor is known for its sandy soil, so grout was injected into the sand in order for it to bond together for the needed strength. Fabricating and installing
ed and complex glass systems was equally challenging—and thrilling—for the sheer physical beauty of the transparent, translucent, and fritted glass elements is one of the design’s hallmarks. “It has been incredibly gratifying to witness the three-dimensional mani-
n of the Museum after the investment indeveloping and refining the design,” said Allied Works’ Chelsea Grassinger, one of the lead architects on the project. From the beginning, the entire design and construction team has been mindful of the building’s environ-
mpact. The Museum’s overriding “green” characteristic is the adaptive reuse and restoration of the existing historic building—historic preservation being one of the greenest strategies available to the construction industry. In addition to also using recycled building
s wherever possible, the project includes upgrading to high performance mechanical systems that are more stable and efficient, new thermally efficient window systems to decrease the energy footprint, and controlled natural light throughout to not only make for
ewing experiences but dramatically reduce electrical lighting loads. As the University’s project manager for UMMA’s expansion and restoration, John Hetrick ensures that the University receives a good product and that everything runs smoothly. Having never worked
seum before, Hetrick has been impressed with the sophistication and complexity of the design itself. From the cantilevers extending as much as 65 feet from their load-bearing elements to the curtain walls with their tube steel frames and glass panels that extend
l storiesfrom grade to roof, Hetrick said, “It’s just amazing that the engineers and designers can make such long spans work with such minimal supports visible from the outside. The whole exterior—glass, steel, and stone—is a piece of art, like a canvas hanging on
rior walls.” Todd Nemecek, the construction administrator for Integrated Design Systems (IDS), the local associated architects based in Troy, Michigan, interprets the construction drawings on site and serves as the liaison between the design architects and the
ors and engineers. “Working on such a high-profile design like this is exciting—you don’t build a museum every day,” said Nemecek. “Structurally it’s really interesting. The stone portion of the exterior skin looks like it’s floating. That is one of the coolest things I’ve
n and been a part of—we’re really pushing the limits of gravity.” John Biaglow, senior project manager for the construction firm Skanska, has been pleased by the hidden surprises in Alumni Memorial Hall, including the re-opened skylights in Alumni Memorial Hall’s
d the scale of the newly renamed Taubman Gallery. “I’ve felt a real sense of satisfaction bringing these gorgeous spaces back to their former glory,” said Biaglow. “And the interiors throughout are almost works of art themselves. The level of precision and detail is
le. We’ve been working hard to make sure we get it right.” With base construction wrapping up this summer, construction heads into a new phase, including finishing the interiors and the state-of-the-art loading dock and freight elevator, both critically important for
movement of objects outside and in. For Hetrick, the current phase of construction is the most rewarding. “With 100 craftsmen on site now, every other day it looks like a different building. It’s the neatest thing in the world to see a building like this go up.” As the
m prepares to begin moving in both art and staff this fall and reopen in 2009, it will become more apparent than ever how successfully this talented group of designers, craftspeople, and managers has brokered a museum building of lasting beauty that will success-
et the demands of a world-class museum for decades to come. When construction began on the Museum of Art’s expansion and restoration project in the fall of 2006, no one could have predicted exactly how the process would unfold. Museums, with their exacting
and security needs, are by definition more complex facilities to bring to life than office buildings or schools. Even though Allied Works Architecture of Portland, Oregon, recently completed the Seattle Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and
ect’s general contractor, Skanska, is seasoned in the art of building museums, each project, site, and design brings with it unique challenges and discoveries. Because of the complex nature of simultaneously restoring and updating Alumni Memorial Hall and con-
g the new Frankel Wing on a tight, essentially urban site, orchestration and sequencing of construction has been crucial, with every task dependent on the next. At the outset, construction appeared to progress slowly. This was largely due to the scope of excavation
complexity of underground mechanical elements as well as the structural and engineering sophistication of the Frankel Wing’s dramatic, visually unsupported cantilevers and ribbed curtain walls. Connecting the old and new—historic Alumni Memorial Hall with the
ition—was one early challenge for the construction team. Differences in grade level between the two necessitated significant underpinning before the opening on the north side of the old building could be carved out. Ann Arbor is known for its sandy soil, so grout
cted into the sand in order for it to bond together for the needed strength. Fabricating and installing the varied and complex glass systems was equally challenging—and thrilling—for the sheer physical beauty of the transparent, translucent, and fritted glass elements
f the design’s hallmarks. “It has been incredibly gratifying to witness the three-dimensional manifestation of the Museum after the investment indeveloping and refining the design,” said Allied Works’ Chelsea Grassinger, one of the lead architects on the project.
e beginning, the entire design and construction team has been mindful of the building’s environmental impact. The Museum’s overriding “green” characteristic is the adaptive reuse and restoration of the existing historic building—historic preservation being one of
nest strategies available to the construction industry. In addition to also using recycled building materials wherever possible, the project includes upgrading to high performance mechanical systems that are more stable and efficient, new thermally efficient window
to decrease the energy footprint, and controlled natural light throughout to not only make for better viewing experiences but dramatically reduce electrical lighting loads. As the University’s project manager for UMMA’s expansion and restoration, John Hetrick en-
at the University receives a good product and that everything runs smoothly. Having never worked on a museum before, Hetrick has been impressed with the sophistication and complexity of the design itself. From the cantilevers extending as much as 65 feet from
d-bearing elements to the curtain walls with their tube steel frames and glass panels that extend three full storiesfrom grade to roof, Hetrick said, “It’s just amazing that the engineers and designers can make such long spans work with such minimal supports visible outside. The whole exterior—glass, steel, and stone—is a piece of art, like a canvas hanging on the exterior walls.” Todd Nemecek, the construction administrator for Integrated Design Systems (IDS), the local associated architects based in Troy, Michigan, interprets
truction drawings on site and serves as the liaison between the design architects and the contractors and engineers. “Working on such a high-profile design like this is exciting—you don’t build a museum every day,” said Nemecek. “Structurally it’s really interesting.
e portion of the exterior skin looks like it’s floating. That is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen and been a part of—we’re really pushing the limits of gravity.” John Biaglow, senior project manager for the construction firm Skanska, has been pleased by the hidden
s in Alumni Memorial Hall, including the re-opened skylights in Alumni Memorial Hall’s Apse and the scale of the newly renamed Taubman Gallery. “I’ve felt a real sense of satisfaction bringing these gorgeous spaces back to their former glory,” said Biaglow. “And
iors throughout are almost works of art themselves. The level of precision and detail is incredible. We’ve been working hard to make sure we get it right.” With base construction wrapping up this summer, construction heads into a new phase, including finishing the
When construction began on the Museum of Art’s expansion and restoration project in the fall of 2006, no one could have predicted exactly how the process would unfold. Museums, with their exacting climate and security needs, are by definition more complex facilities to bring to life than office buildings or schools. Even though Allied Works Architecture, recently completed the Seattle Art Museum and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and the project’s general contractor, Skanska, is seasoned in the art of building museums, each project, site, and design brings with it unique challenges and discoveries.Because of the complex nature of simultaneously restoring and updating Alumni Memorial Hall and constructing the new Frankel Wing on a tight, essentially urban site, orchestration and sequencing of construction has been crucial, with every task dependent on the next. Well before the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao At the outset, construction appeared to progress opened its doors to the public on October 19, slowly. This was largely due to the scope of excava1997, the new museum was making news. tion and the complexity of underground mechanical elements as well as the structural and engineering sophistication of the Frankel Wing’s dramatic, visually unsupported cantilevers and ribbed curtain walls. Connecting the old and new—historic Alumni Memorial Hall with the new addition—was one early challenge for the construction team. Differences in grade level between the two necessitated significant underpinning before the opening on the north side of the old building could be carved out. Ann Arbor is known for its sandy soil, so grout was injected into the sand in order for it to bond together for the needed strength.
Fabricating and installing the varied and complex glass systems was equally challenging—and thrilling—for the sheer physical beauty of the transparent, translucent, and fritted glass elements is one of the design’s hallmarks. “It has been incredibly gratifying to witness the three-dimensional manifestation of the Museum after the investment indeveloping and refining the design,” Grassinger, one of the lead architects on the project. From the beginning, the entire design and construction team has been mindful of the building’s environmental impact. The Museum’s overriding “green” characteristic is the adaptive reuse and restoration of the existing historic building—historic preservation being one of the greenest strategies available to the construction industry. In addition to also using recycled building materials wherever possible, the project includes upgrading to high performance mechanical systems that are more stable and efficient.
rank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, CC (born Frank Owen Goldberg; February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles. His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions. His works are cited as being among the most important works of contemporary architecture in the 2010 World Architecture Survey, which led Vanity Fair to label him as “the most important architect of our age”.
Frank Owen Goldberg Gehry was born Frank Owen Goldberg on February Born February 28, 1929 (age 84) 28, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario to parents, Irwin and Toronto, Ontario, Canada Canadian, American Thelma Goldberg. His parents were Polish Jews. A Nationality Alma mater University of Southern California creative child, he was encouraged by his grandmother, Awards AIA Gold Medal National Medal of Arts Mrs. Caplan, with whom he would build little cities out Order of Canada of scraps of wood. With these scraps from her hus- Pritzker Prize Praemium Imperiale band’s hardware store, she entertained him for hours, building imaginary houses and futuristic cities on the living room floor. His use of cor- He would spend time drawing with his father and his rugated steel, chain link fencing, mother introduced him to the world of art. “So the creunpainted plywood and other util- ative genes were there”, Gehry says. “But my mother itarian or “everyday” materials was thought I was a dreamer, I wasn’t gonna amount to partly inspired by spending Satur- anything. It was my father who thought I was just retiday mornings at his grandfather’s cent to do things. He would push me.” hardware store.
personal life
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The building opened for initial occupancy on March 16, 2004. It sits on the site of MIT’s former Building 20, which housed the historic Radiation Laboratory, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Gehry’s best-known works include the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain; MIT Ray and Maria Stata Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles; The Vontz Center for Molecular Studies on the University of Cincinnati campus; Experience Music Project in Seattle; Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis; Dancing House in Prague; the Vitra Gehry is sometimes associated with what is known Design Museum and the museum as the “Los Angeles School” or the “Santa Monica MARTa Herford in Germany; the School” of architecture. The appropriateness of this Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; designation and the existence of such a school, howthe Cinémathèque française in ever, remains controversial due to the lack of a unifyParis; and 8 Spruce Street in New ing philosophy or theory. This designation stems from York City. But it was his private the Los Angeles area’s producing a group of the most residence in Santa Monica, Califorinfluential postmodern architects, including such nonia, that jump-started his career, table Gehry contemporaries as Eric Owen Moss and lifting it from the status of “paper Pritzker Prize-winner Thom Mayne of Morphosis, architecture”—a phenomenon as well as the famous schools of architecture at that many famous architects have the Southern California Institute of Architecexperienced in their formative deture (co‑founded by Mayne), UCLA, and cades through experimentation USC where Gehry is a member of the almost exclusively on paper before Board of Directors. receiving their first major commission in later years. Gehry is also the designer of the future National Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial.
architectural style
Type Built Opened Seating type Capacity
Much of Gehry’s work falls within the style of Deconstructivism, which is often referred to as post-structuralist in nature for its ability to go beyond current modalities of structural definition. This can be seen in Gehry’s house in Santa Monica. In architecture, its application tends to depart from modernism in its inherent criticism of culturally inherited givens such as societal goals and functional necessity. Because of this, unlike early modernist structures, Deconstructivist structures are not required to reflect specific social or universal ideas, such as speed or universality of form, and they do not reflect a belief that form follows function. Gehry’s own Santa Monica residence is a commonly cited example of deconstructivist architecture, as it was so drastically divorced from its original context, and in such a manner as to subvert its original spatial intention.
Concert hall 1999–2003 October 24, 2003 Reserved 2,265
Gehry’s style at times seems unfinished or even crude, but his work is consistent with the California “funk” art movement in the 1960s and early 1970s, which featured the use of inexpensive found objects and non-traditional media such as clay to make serious art[citation needed]. Gehry has been called “the apostle of chain-link fencing and corrugated metal siding” However, a retrospective exhibit at New York’s Whitney Museum in 1988 revealed that he is also a sophisticated classical artist, who knows European art history and contemporary sculpture and painting.
Type Collection size Director Public transit access
Art museum 20,000+ Lyndel King Coffman Memorial Union, Metro Transit/SouthWest Transit
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BIBLIOG BIBLIOGRAPHY
GRAPHY “Guggenheim Museum Bilbao Change This.” Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2013. “Guggenheim Museum Bilbao - Discover the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and Plan Your Visit.” Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. “AD Classics: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao / Frank Gehry.” ArchDaily. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. “My Architectural Moleskine: F. Gehry: Guggenheim Museum, Biblbao.“ My Architectural Moleskine: F. Gehry: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013. “Blobitecture: 11 Cool Ways Architecture Gets a Round | Urbanist.” WebUrbanist RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 2013.
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