Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Bilbao ES
Frank Gehry
1997
Type
Museum
Tags
urban regeneration, cultural facilities, global cultural institutions, landmarks, art spaces , 200Best, Spain ccc, Nervión river
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is undoubtedly one of the most famous buildings in contemporary architecture. Its construction was a driving force for regeneration. From an industrial city in decline, Bilbao became a destination for travellers from all over the world and a cultural reference. In fact, this regeneration strategy based on iconic architecture became known as the "Bilbao effect" all over the world. Gehry's project is the centrepiece of the renovation project for the Bilbao Estuary, initiated by the city council in the 1990s. The Californian architect's architectural language, which draws on the artistic technique of assemblage, lands in the city by responding to the important elements of the landscape. The museum extends its titanium surfaces beyond the Salve bridge, which is integrated into the composition. The warped forms accompany the flow of the water of the Nervión estuary, creating a public urban area where a sheet of water blurs the limits of the river course. Gehry's vindication of architecture as an artistic fact translates into great formal freedom. The complexity of the geometries used was resolved thanks to a 3D shipbuilding software called CATIA, capable of transforming Gehry's models directly into a 3-D map of points. It is therefore a building that is not only the container of an art collection but is itself a work of art on an urban scale.